Melantrich ( cs, Nakladatelství Melantrich - Publishing House Melantrich) was a large

Czech language Czech (; Czech ), historically also Bohemian (; ''lingua Bohemica'' in Latin), is a West Slavic language of the Czech–Slovak group, written in Latin script. Spoken by over 10 million people, it serves as the official language of the Czech R ...

publishing house Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

connected with the

Czech National Social Party Czech National Social Party (Czech: ''Česká strana národně sociální'', ČSNS) is a civic nationalist political party in the Czech Republic, that once played an important role in Czechoslovakia during the interwar period. It was established ...

. Established in 1897, the publisher remained in existence until 1999. In 1897 the

(no relation to German

National Socialism Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Naz ...

) was founded after a split within the Czechoslavonic Social Democratic Workers' Party. The new party set up a publishing house "Knihtiskárna národně sociálního dělnictva" ("Printing press of national socialist workers") on July 9, 1897. The party also started a daily, ''Česká demokracie'' ("The Czech Democracy"), led by

Václav Klofáč Václav Jaroslav Klofáč (21 September 1868 – 10 July 1942) was a Czech politician and one of the founders of the Czech National Social Party. He was born in 1868 in Německý Brod. Klofáč became one of the best known radical nationalis ...

, without much of success. In 1907 Jaroslav Šalda, a talented worker from the printing press, together with Klofáč started a new daily '' České slovo'' ("The Czech Word"). The newspaper proved to be successful and in 1910 the publishing house bought building "Hvězda" ("The Star") on the Wenceslaus Square. The company adopted name "Melantrich" after a

renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...

publisher Jiří Melantrich of Aventino (born Jiří Černý Rožďalovický; c.1511, Rožďalovice - November 19, 1580, Prague). The building was renamed to "Melantrich" after the 1922 reconstruction. In 1919 the company, obtaining an official permit, started to publish several newspapers and journals (including the first tabloid in the Czech lands, ''Pražský ilustrovaný zpravodaj''). In 1924 Melantrich became joint stock company. In 1926 printing press "Koppe & Bellmann" from

Smíchov Smíchov () is (since 1909) a district of Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, and is part of Prague 5. It is on the west bank of the Vltava river. History Between 1945 and 1989, the district contained a monument dedicated to Soviet ta ...

was acquired. In 1928 a branch in

Ostrava Ostrava (; pl, Ostrawa; german: Ostrau ) is a city in the north-east of the Czech Republic, and the capital of the Moravian-Silesian Region. It has about 280,000 inhabitants. It lies from the border with Poland, at the confluences of four riv ...

was established, in 1934 branch in Brno and later branch in

Žilina Žilina (; hu, Zsolna, ; german: Sillein, or ; pl, Żylina , names in other languages) is a city in north-western Slovakia, around from the capital Bratislava, close to both the Czech and Polish borders. It is the fourth largest city of ...

. During the 1930s Melantrich got involved in movie production and in commercial graphics. In 1936 a music publishing "MelPa" (Melantrich + Pazdírek) was established. It was one of the largest publishers of books in the country. The spectrum of literature published by Melantrich was very wide and included works by many contemporary Czech writers, such as

Božena Benešová Božena Benešová, née Zapletalová (30 November 1873, Nový Jičín – 8 April 1936, Prague), was a Czech author and poet whose work is considered to have been at the forefront of psychological prose. The greater part of her youth was spent i ...

, Jan Čep,

Jaroslav Durych Jaroslav Durych (2 December 1886 – 7 April 1962) was a Czech Republic, Czech prose writer, poet, playwright, journalist, and military surgeon. Life and works Durych was born in Hradec Králové and was orphaned at an early age. He attended ...

Egon Hostovský Egon Hostovský (23 April 1908 – 7 May 1973) was a Czech people, Czech writer, editor and journalist. Biography Born in Hronov to a Jewish family, Hostovský studied at the gymnasium (school), gymnasium in Náchod in 1927, then took up ...

, Josef Kopta,

Vítězslav Nezval Vítězslav Nezval (; 26 May 1900 – 6 April 1958) was a Czech poet, writer and translator. He was one of the most prolific avant-garde Czech writers in the first half of the 20th century and a co-founder of the Surrealist movement in Czechos ...

, Ivan Olbracht, and

Vladislav Vančura Vladislav Vančura () (23 June 1891 in Háj ve Slezsku – 1 June 1942 in Prague) was an important Czech writer active in the 20th century, who was murdered by the Nazis. He was also active as a film director, playwright and screenwriter. Early ...

. The circulation of some newspapers and journals reached hundreds of thousands, in few cases (''Večerní slovo'', weekly ''Svobodný zítřek'') more than one million. Led by Šalda, Melantrich became the largest publisher in the

First Republic of Czechoslovakia The First Czechoslovak Republic ( cs, První československá republika, sk, Prvá česko-slovenská republika), often colloquially referred to as the First Republic ( cs, První republika, Slovak: ''Prvá republika''), was the first Czechoslo ...

. After the

Nazi occupation German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 ...

(1939) the company managed to stay in business but Šalda was imprisoned (in 1941) and the control was taken over by Nazi collaborators. After the war Šalda, unwilling to participate in politics any more, was removed by the

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often featur ...

from his executive position. '' České slovo'' was renamed to ''Svobodné slovo'' ("The Free Word") in 1945. After the communist takeover of power in 1948 Šalda got ousted, the company nationalized and split into three parts. In 1950 the Czechoslovak Socialist Party (the party changed its name) was granted the right to control the company again while the state remained as the formal owner. (This settlement led to litigations after 1989.) In 1950 the publishing house changed its name to "Svobodné slovo-Melantrich", in 1960 to "Svobodné slovo" and again in 1967 back to "Melantrich". During the

Velvet Revolution The Velvet Revolution ( cs, Sametová revoluce) or Gentle Revolution ( sk, Nežná revolúcia) was a non-violent transition of power in what was then Czechoslovakia, occurring from 17 November to 28 November 1989. Popular demonstrations agains ...

(1989) a balcony of Melantrich building served as a tribune for speakers to the masses of protesters gathered on Wenceslaus Square. The socialist party later used this balcony as the main symbol of their (eventually unsuccessful) election campaign in 1990. The first half of the 1990s was spent in disputes and litigations who is the new owner of the company. The newspaper Svobodné slovo changed the editor-in-chief many times while the circulation steadily declined. In 1996 Melantrich was bought by a media company, part of the Chemapol group. ''Svobodné slovo'' was renamed to ''Slovo'' ("The Word") and in 1998 sold out. Chemapol went bankrupt in 1998. The publishing house was, like many other large traditional publishers in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

, unable to compete and closed down in 1999. Afterwards, the Melantrich building was turned into a luxurious hotel.

Literature

* Libuše Pešková: ''Publikační činnost nakladatelství Melantrich od založení do vzniku 2. světové války'' (''Publication activities of Melantrich until World War II'')], Charles University, 1975. A diploma work with complete bibliography from the 1918-38 period. (Czech)

External links

History of Melantrich: short overview
{{Authority control Publishing in the Czech Republic