Svatopluk Čech (21 February 1846 in

Ostředek Ostředek is a municipality and village in Benešov District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 500 inhabitants. Administrative parts Villages of Bělčice, Mžižovice, Třemošnice and Vráž are administrative pa ...

near

Benešov Benešov (; german: Beneschau; also known as Benešov u Prahy) is a town in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 16,000 inhabitants. The town is known for the Konopiště Castle. Administrative parts Villages of Baba, ...

– 23 February 1908 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 ...

) was 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' Places * Czech, ...

writer, journalist and poet.

Biography

Čech studied at gymnasium (secondary school) in Prague, then studied law, and later worked in the journals Květy, Lumír and Světozor. His first poem, ''Husita na Baltu'', was published in the almanac ''Ruch'' in 1868. Similarly to his work ''Adamité'', it is inspired by history (

Hussite Wars The Hussite Wars, also called the Bohemian Wars or the Hussite Revolution, were a series of civil wars fought between the Hussites and the combined Catholic forces of Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund, the Papacy, European monarchs loyal to the Cat ...

). His poem ''Evropa'' (1878) takes its cue from revolutionary movements of the time, his poem ''Slávie'' (1882) propagates ideals of Slavic unity, the poem ''Václav z Michalovic'' (1880) depicts religious oppression by the Jesuits, his poem ''Lešetínský kovář'' (1883 confiscated, 1899) social problems of industrialization. The books of lyrical poetry ''Jitřní písně'' (1887) and ''Nové písně'' (1888) reflect the national rebirth of the Czech people, and his poetry cycle ''Písně otroka'' reflects social problems. His best known work today is a series of satirical novels, ''Výlety pana Broučka'' (1888, 1889), two of which were used as the basis for Janáček's opera '' The Excursions of Mr. Brouček to the Moon and to the 15th Century'' (''Výlet pana Broučka do Měsíce''/''Výlet pana Broučka do XV. století''). Čech himself appears as an apparition in Act Three of the opera. A bridge in Prague bears the name Svatopluk Čech Bridge (''Most Svatopluka Čecha'') in his honor. Also multiple streets in various Czech cities are named after him. Svatopluk Čech was buried at the

Vyšehrad Cemetery Vyšehrad ( Czech for "upper castle") is a historic fort in Prague, Czech Republic, just over 3 km southeast of Prague Castle, on the east bank of the Vltava River. It was probably built in the 10th century. Inside the fort are the Basil ...

in Prague.

External links

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Short biography
Czech journalists Czech poets Czech male poets 1846 births 1908 deaths 19th-century poets 19th-century male writers People from Benešov District Burials at Vyšehrad Cemetery {{CzechRepublic-writer-stub