František Zvardoň (20 June 1949 – 13 November 2024) was a Czech writer, photographer and reporter.

Life and career

Born in Petřvald on 20 June 1949, Zvardoň attended photography school in

Brno Brno ( , ; ) is a Statutory city (Czech Republic), city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava (river), Svitava and Svratka (river), Svratka rivers, Brno has about 403,000 inhabitants, making ...

. He began working in

Opava Opava (; , ) is a city in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 55,000 inhabitants. It lies on the Opava (river), Opava River. Opava is one of the historical centres of Silesia and was a historical capital of Czech Sile ...

and then

Ostrava Ostrava (; ; ) is a city in the north-east of the Czech Republic and the capital of the Moravian-Silesian Region. It has about 283,000 inhabitants. It lies from the border with Poland, at the confluences of four rivers: Oder, Opava (river), Opa ...

. In 1976, he was awarded a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

prize for photographer in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

. In 1987, he fled Czechoslovakia and landed in France, seeking political asylum. He joined the in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and began reporting in 1989, working in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

, and

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

. He was then published numerous magazines and other publications. In addition to his other activities, Zvardoň also illustrated more than 300 books. Zvardoň died in

Ittenheim Ittenheim (; ) is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. Geography Ittenheim is positioned ten kilometres (six miles) to the west of Strasbourg. The little town is crossed by the departmental road RD1004 ...

on 13 November 2024, at the age of 75.

Awards

*UNESCO prize (1976) *Nikon Photo Contest international Prize (1983) *Olympus Prize (1990) *

United Nations Environment Programme The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the Declaration of the United Nati ...

prize (1996) *Grand Prix of the (2019)

Publications

*''On my own'' (1990) *''Vache'' (1992) *''Les routes du lait'' (1994) *''Paysages humains'' (1996) *''Bible 2000'' (1996) *''Alsace Dialogue du paysage'' (2000) *''Empreinte du temps'' (2004) *''L'Alsace de Zvardon'' (2005) *''Surma (Éthiopie)'' (2006) *''Petra Werlé – Histoires naturelles'' (2007) *''Bleu de Terre'' (2008) *''Le Bas-Rhin'' (2008) *''Strasbourg'' (2009) *''Les Alsaciens'' (2009) *''La route des vins d'Alsace'' (2010) *''Chemins de Saint-Jacques-de-Compostelle'' (2010) *''Petra Werlé – De la nature des choses'' (2010) *''Au fil du Rhin'' (2010) *''Metz'' (2010) *''Éthiopie Instants éternels'' (2011) *''Au-dessus des châteaux de France'' (2012) *''Au-dessus des parcs et jardins de France'' (2013) *''Alsace Panorama'' (2013) *''L'excellence en Alsace'' (2014) *''Aurora Borealis'' (2015) *''Secrets de cathédrale'' (2015) *''Un port au cœur de la ville'' (2016) *''Silences d'Alsace'' (2017) *''Lalique, l'art de la main'' (2018) *''Wissembourg et ses secrets'' (2018) *''Notre-Dame-de-Paris - Au carrefour des Cultures'' (2018) *''Hagueneau et ses secrets'' (2018) *''Sanctuaire Notre-Dame du Laus'' (2019) *''Notre-Dame de Paris l'éternelle'' (2019) *''Saverne et ses secrets'' (2019) *''Notre-Dame de la Garde, Marseille'' (2019) *''Basilique Sainte-Marie-Madeleine'' (2019) *''Le champ de feu'' (2019) *''Hunspach l'authentique'' (2020) *''Secrets de la Légion étrangère'' (2022)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zvardon, Frantisek 1949 births 2024 deaths Czech photographers Czech male writers Czechoslovak emigrants to France People from Petřvald (Karviná District)