Zdeněk Rotrekl (1 October 1920 – 9 June 2013) was a Czech and

Czechoslovak Czechoslovak may refer to: *A demonym or adjective pertaining to Czechoslovakia (1918–93) **First Czechoslovak Republic (1918–38) **Second Czechoslovak Republic (1938–39) **Third Czechoslovak Republic (1948–60) **Fourth Czechoslovak Repub ...

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

poet, literary historian and writer. He was severely persecuted for his work and Roman Catholic beliefs during

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

Communist era A Communist Era is a sustained period of national government by a single party following the philosophy of Marxism–Leninism. Many countries have experienced such a period of Communist rule. Current communist states China The Chinese Communist ...

from 1948 to 1989, including thirteen years in prison. The Communist government also banned his work for more than forty years. The ''Prague Daily Monitor'' has called him "one of the most distinguished personalities of the Catholic stream in

Czech poetry Czech literature can refer to literature written in Czech, in the Czech Republic (formerly Czechoslovakia, earlier the Lands of the Bohemian Crown), or by Czech people. Most literature in the Czech Republic is now written in Czech, but histor ...

of the latter half of the 20th century." Rotrekl was born in 1920 in Brno, Czechoslovakia. He published his first full volume of poetry when he was just 20 years old. He enrolled at Faculty of Arts in Brno in the aftermath 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 opposing ...

, where he pursued studies in

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

, history, and

art history Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...

. However, he was expelled from the university following the 1948 Czechoslovak coup d'état for supporting democracy. Prior to 1948, Rotrekl had published three books of poetry. Following his expulsion from his university, Rotreki was sentenced to death in a 1949 show trial. His sentence was later commuted to life in prison, ultimately spending thirteen years imprisoned by Czechoslovakia's Communist authorities. Rotreki worked in blue collar positions after his release. The government banned him from publishing his work for more than 40 years, from 1948 to 1989. He was only able to release his writings through the

samizdat Samizdat (russian: самиздат, lit=self-publishing, links=no) was a form of dissident activity across the Eastern Bloc in which individuals reproduced censored and underground makeshift publications, often by hand, and passed the document ...

, or dissident, networks. He completed his undergraduate degree during the late 1960s, and was hired as a journalist for ''Obroda'' (''Renewal'') magazine. Rotreki was removed from his positions following the

Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia The Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia refers to the events of 20–21 August 1968, when the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic was jointly invaded by four Warsaw Pact countries: the Soviet Union, the Polish People's Republic, the People's Rep ...

which crushed the Prague Spring. He was essentially blacklisted by the Communist government throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Czech Republic President

Václav Havel Václav Havel (; 5 October 193618 December 2011) was a Czech statesman, author, poet, playwright, and former dissident. Havel served as the last president of Czechoslovakia from 1989 until the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1992 and then ...

the Order of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk in 1995. He also received the

Jaroslav Seifert Prize The Jaroslav Seifert Prize (Czech: Cena Jaroslava Seiferta) is a prestigious Czech literary prize created by the Charta 77 Foundation in Stockholm in January 1986. This prize is named after the Nobel Prize–winning Czechoslovak writer, poet and j ...

, a Czech literary award, in 2001. Zdeněk Rotrekl died in Brno,

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 ...

, on 9 June 2013, at the age of 92. His funeral was held at St Thomas Church in Brno on 15 June 2013.

References

1920 births 2013 deaths Czech poets Czech male poets Czech literary historians Czech Roman Catholics Czech anti-communists Czechoslovak prisoners and detainees Recipients of the Order of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk Writers from Brno 20th-century Czech poets {{CzechRepublic-writer-stub