Prostějov
Prostějov (; german: Proßnitz) is a city in the Olomouc Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 43,000 inhabitants. The city is known for its fashion industry. The historical city centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an Cultural ...
– 21 August 1978 in
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
) was a
Czech
Czech may refer to:
* Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe
** Czech language
** Czechs, the people of the area
** Czech culture
** Czech cuisine
* One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus'
Places
*Czech, ...
journalist and writer.
Life
Valenta was born into a family of a medical doctor. After secondary school (finished in 1918) he started to study at a technical university but left soon for the work of journalist. In 1920 Valenta joined the Brno office of the newspaper
Lidové noviny
''Lidové noviny'' (''People's News'', or ''The People's Newspaper'', ) is a daily newspaper published in Prague, the Czech Republic. It is the oldest Czech daily still in print, and a newspaper of record.February 1948 when he was purged away by the new communist regime. In December 1948 Valenta was taken into custody and in July 1949 given a short sentence. Although imprisoned for relatively short time his health has deteriorated. Valenta was allowed to publish again during period of cultural liberalisation.
Among his most important works are recordings of adventures of
Jan Welzl
Jan Welzl (15 August 1868, in Zábřeh, Moravia, Austria-Hungary – 19 September 1948, in Dawson City, Yukon, Canada) was a Czech of Moravian ethnicity who was a traveller, adventurer, hunter, gold-digger, Eskimo chief and Chief Justice on New S ...
(together with colleague
Bedřich Golombek
Bedřich Golombek (February 5, 1901 in Hrušov (Ostrava), Hrušov, today part of Ostrava – March 31, 1961 in Brno) was a Czech people, Czech journalist and writer.
Golombek was born into the family of a coal miner. He studied at a secondary ...
), biography of African explorer
Emil Holub
Emil Holub (7 October 1847 – 21 February 1902) was a Czech physician, explorer, cartographer, and ethnographer in Africa.
Early life
Holub was born in Holice in eastern Bohemia (then within the Austrian Empire, now the Czech Republic), to t ...
and
psychological novel
In literature, psychological fiction (also psychological realism) is a narrative genre that emphasizes interior characterization and motivation to explore the spiritual, emotional, and mental lives of the characters. The mode of narration examin ...
''Jdi za zeleným světlem''. The novel depicts life of an intellectual who, affected by tragic events, decides to start a new life in a small quiet village, in distance from the civilisation. The cruelty of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
occupation
Occupation commonly refers to:
*Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment
*Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces
*Military occupation, th ...
graduates and at the end the main character of the novel is shot by retreating German soldiers.
Selected works
* Valenta had recorded stories of
Jan Welzl
Jan Welzl (15 August 1868, in Zábřeh, Moravia, Austria-Hungary – 19 September 1948, in Dawson City, Yukon, Canada) was a Czech of Moravian ethnicity who was a traveller, adventurer, hunter, gold-digger, Eskimo chief and Chief Justice on New S ...
and they were published in four books during the 1930s.
* ''Lidé, které jsem potkal cestou'', 1939.
* ''Druhé housle'', 1943. Biography of
Emil Holub
Emil Holub (7 October 1847 – 21 February 1902) was a Czech physician, explorer, cartographer, and ethnographer in Africa.
Early life
Holub was born in Holice in eastern Bohemia (then within the Austrian Empire, now the Czech Republic), to t ...
.
* ''Kouty srdce a světa'', 1946.
* ''Kvas'', 1947.
* ''Světem pro nic za nic'', 1947. Book of travels in
Americas
The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World.
Along with th ...
.
* ''Poprvé a naposledy'', 1948.
* ''Jdi za zeleným světlem'', 1956. A psychological portrait of an intellectual during
occupation
Occupation commonly refers to:
*Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment
*Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces
*Military occupation, th ...
.
* ''Nejkrásnější země'', 1958.
* ''Trám'', 1963.
* ''Dlouhán v okně'', 1965.
* ''Život samé psaní'', 1970.
* ''Žil jsem s miliardářem'', 1979. Remembrance on industrialist
Jan Antonín Baťa
Jan Antonín Baťa (March 7, 1898 – August 23, 1965) (also known as ''Jan Antonin Bata'' or ''Jan Bata'', called The King of Shoes) was a Czech- Brazilian shoe manufacturer from Uherské Hradiště (southeastern Moravia), half-brother of Tomáš ...
.
* ''Žít ještě jednou'', 1983. A detective novel.