Josef Lada (born 17 December 1887 in Hrusice, Bohemia – 14 December 1957 in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

, buried at

Olšany Cemetery Olšany Cemeteries (''Olšanské hřbitovy'' in Czech, ''Wolschan'' in German) is the largest graveyard in Prague, Czech Republic, once laid out for as many as two million burials. The graveyard is particularly noted for its many remarkable art ...

) was a Czech painter, illustrator and writer. He is best known as the illustrator of

Jaroslav Hašek Jaroslav Hašek (; 1883–1923) was a Czech writer, humorist, satirist, journalist, bohemian and anarchist. He is best known for his novel '' The Fate of the Good Soldier Švejk during the World War'', an unfinished collection of farcical inc ...

's World War I novel ''

The Good Soldier Švejk ''The Good Soldier Švejk'' () is an unfinished satirical dark comedy novel by Czech writer Jaroslav Hašek, published in 1921–1923, about a good-humored, simple-minded, middle-aged man who pretends to be enthusiastic to serve Austria-Hungar ...

,'' having won the

Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis The (German Youth Literature Award) is an annual award established in 1956 by the Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth to recognise outstanding works of children's and young adult literature. It is Germany's only ...

in 1963. The asteroid 17625 Joseflada has been named after him.

Life

Born in the small village of Hrusice in a cobbler's family, he went to Prague at the age of 14 to become an apprentice binder. Entirely self-taught, he created his own style as a

caricaturist A caricaturist is an artist who specializes in drawing caricatures. List of caricaturists * Abed Abdi (born 1942) * Al Hirschfeld (1903–2003) * Alex Gard (1900–1948) * Alexander Saroukhan (1898–1977) * Alfred Grévin (1827–1892) * Alf ...

for newspapers, and later as an illustrator. He produced landscapes, created frescoes and designed costumes for plays and films. Over the years he created a series of paintings and drawings depicting traditional Czech occupations, and wrote and illustrated the adventures of ''Mikeš'', a little black cat who could talk. Lada produced nearly 600 cartoons of the Švejk characters, depicting

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

officers and civil servants as incompetent, abusive and often drunk. All subsequent editions of Švejk used Lada's illustrations, except for the 2008/2009 Czech edition illustrated by Petr Urban.

Books in English translation

* *

As illustrator

Gallery

Hrusice CZ birthplace of Josef Lada 185.jpg, Birthplace of Josef Lada Hrusice CZ villa of Josef Lada_330.jpg, Lada's villa in Hrusice today houses his museum Svejk 04.png, One of the cartoons from

References

External links

Official page
(in Czech, from 9/2014 in English)
Satirist, illustrator and landscape painter Josef Lada subject of major retrospective – Czech Radio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lada, Josef 1887 births 1957 deaths People from Prague-East District People from the Kingdom of Bohemia Czech illustrators Czech comics artists Czech caricaturists Czech satirists Czech children's writers Czech scenic designers Writers who illustrated their own writing 20th-century Czech painters Czech male painters Burials at Olšany Cemetery 20th-century Czech male artists