Zdeňka Deitchová (born May 18, 1928 in Prague, Czechoslovakia) is a Czech animator and production manager, and the director for the Bratři v triku studio. Deitchová worked on a variety of projects like Krtek and other films. She was married to American-born animator

Gene Deitch Eugene Merril Deitch (August 8, 1924 – April 16, 2020) was an American illustrator, animator, comics artist, and film director who was based in Prague from the 1960s until his death in 2020. Deitch was known for creating animated cartoons ...

until his death in 2020.

Early life

Zdeňka Najmanová was born on May 18, 1928 in Prague, Czechoslovakia. Her father worked for Czechoslovak Railways. In 1935 after her mother died suddenly, she was raised by her father, František Hrachovec, and her older brother, František Hrachovec. In Prague, she attended and graduated from the

School of Applied Arts A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compuls ...

Career

Deitchová got a job as an animator at the Bratři v triku studio. Eventually, she was promoted to production manager and was put in charge of the studio's international contract work. In this job, she met William Snyder and worked on a variety of his films. Through her work with William Snyder, she met

, who she later married. She then became the director of the studio and worked on a variety of projects like Krtek. Deitchová also taught at the Animation Department of the Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (FAMU).

Legacy

In 2005 after working in the industry for over 55 years, she retired. In 2014, Deitchová was interviewed by the nonprofit

Post Bellum Post Bellum is a Czech educational nonprofit organization based in Prague. The organization was formed in 2001 by a group of historians and journalists with the aim of increasing public knowledge of the 20th century history of the Czech Republ ...

as part of their Stories of the 20th Century project.

Filmography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Deitchova, Zdenka 1928 births Living people Czech animators Czech animated film directors Czech animated film producers Stop motion animators Czech women animators Czech women film directors Unit production managers