Renáta Fučíková (born 3 January 1964) is 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 *Czech (surnam ...

book illustrator, artist and writer. She is best known for her works for children and youth about Czech and European history.

Early life and education

Renáta Fučíková was born on 3 January 1964, in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

. In 1988, she graduated from the

Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague The Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague (AAAD, , abbreviated VŠUP, also known as UMPRUM) is a public university located in Prague, Czech Republic. The university offers the study disciplines of painting, illustration and graphics, ...

, where she focused on illustration and applied graphics.

Career

Fučíková started her career in the 1990s with illustrations for classic children's books, such as works by

brothers Grimm The Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob Grimm, Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm Grimm, Wilhelm (1786–1859), were Germans, German academics who together collected and published folklore. The brothers are among the best-known storytellers of Oral tradit ...

Hans Christian Andersen Hans Christian Andersen ( , ; 2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875) was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogue (literature), travelogues, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his literary fairy tales. Andersen's fai ...

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwright ...

, then changed her focus to stories about Czech history, citing her son's ongoing education as a source of motivation. In 1998, one of her books was included in the IBBY Honour List. She also won the first prize at the illustration biennale in Tehran. In the 2000s, Fučíková collaborated with the writer on various publications concerning Czech history, such as books on

Bohemian Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, originally practised by 19th–20th century European and American artists and writers. * Bohemian style, a ...

and Moravian legends or on Charles IV. Her biggest undertaking in the field of history was illustrating five-hundred pages long ''Historie Evropy'' ("History of Europe") written by and published in 2011''.'' With the same author, Fučíková also prepared two history exercise books. The illustrator also designed a variety of stamps for the

Česká pošta Czech Post (Czech language, Czech: ''Česká pošta'') is the state-owned postal company of the Czech Republic. With its headquarters in Prague, the corporation employs around 23,500 employees (as of 2022). History History of the Czechoslov ...

. Fučíková won a number of prizes, including the (Golden Ribbon) awards for illustrations in a work on

Tomáš Masaryk Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk (7 March 185014 September 1937) was a Czechoslovaks, Czechoslovak statesman, political activist and philosopher who served as the first List of presidents of Czechoslovakia, president of Czechoslovakia from 191 ...

(2006) and in ''Příběhy českých knížat a králů'' (2007), and went on to win three more of these awards in the 2010s. In 2011, Fučíková was nominated for the

Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award () is an international children's literary award established by the Swedish government in 2002 to honour the Swedish children's author Astrid Lindgren (1907–2002). The prize is five million SEK, making it ...

. Three years later, her ''Hus a Chelčický'', a book for older children about

Jan Hus Jan Hus (; ; 1369 – 6 July 1415), sometimes anglicized as John Hus or John Huss, and referred to in historical texts as ''Iohannes Hus'' or ''Johannes Huss'', was a Czechs, Czech theologian and philosopher who became a Church reformer and t ...

and

Petr Chelčický Petr Chelčický (; c. 1390 – c. 1460) was a Czech Christian spiritual leader and author in 15th-century Bohemia, now the Czech Republic. He was one of the most influential thinkers of the Bohemian Reformation. Chelčický inspired the Uni ...

which she both wrote and illustrated, won the Association of Czech Graphic Artists HOLLAR award for illustrations. Fučíková was also nominated three times for the

Magnesia Litera Magnesia Litera is an annual literary award, book award held in the Czech Republic since 2002. The prize covers all literary genres in eight genre categories: prose, poetry, children's literature, children's book (since 2004), non-fiction, essay/jo ...

awards. In 2016, Fučíková became the head of the Studio of Didactic Illustration at the Ladislav Sutnar Faculty of Design and Art of the

University of West Bohemia The University of West Bohemia in Pilsen (, ZČU) is a university in Plzeň, Czech Republic. It was founded in 1991 and consists of nine faculties. History The university was formed by the merger of the ''College of Mechanical and Electrical E ...

. Fučíková is a member of the Czech section of IBBY and of Klub ilustrátorů. She was part of the international jury of the 2021

Biennial of Illustration Bratislava The Biennial of Illustration Bratislava (BIB) is one of the oldest international honours for children's book illustrators. First granted in 1967 to Yasuo Segawa (Japan), it is one of the more prestigious children's book awards today, along with t ...

Works in English

* ''Dvořák – His Music and Life in Pictures'', written and illustrated by Fučíková, 2013 * ''Prague in the Heart; 189 Stories from the City and its People'', written and illustrated by Fučíková, 2015 * ''Franz Kafka – A Man of His Time and Our Own'', written by Radek Malý and illustrated by Fučíková, 2017

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fucikova, Renata 1964 births Living people 21st-century Czech women writers Czech illustrators Czech women illustrators 20th-century Czech women artists 20th-century Czech artists 21st-century Czech women artists 21st-century Czech illustrators Czech children's book illustrators Czech women children's book illustrators Czech women children's writers Writers from Prague Artists from Prague Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague alumni