Jan Jelínek (8 April 1893 – 5 July 1974) 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 *Czech (surnam ...

legionnaire and writer. He is author of a book about legionnaires from the

Boskovice Boskovice (; ) is a town in Blansko District in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 13,000 inhabitants. The area of the historic town centre, Jewish quarter, château complex and castle ruin is well preserved and is protec ...

region. He wrote about legionnaires in

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

, and

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

from 1931 to 1938.

Military career

On 10 August 1915, during the First World War, Jelínek was enlisted into the

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

8th field regiment (Moravian). He joined the

Czechoslovak Legions The Czechoslovak Legion (Czech: ''Československé legie''; Slovak: ''Československé légie'') were volunteer armed forces consisting predominantly of Czechs and Slovaks fighting on the side of the Entente powers during World War I and the ...

Menzelinsk Menzelinsk (; ) is a town and the administrative center of Menzelinsky District in the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia, located on the Menzelya River near its confluence with the Kama, from the republic's capital of Kazan. Population: 15,800 ...

on 22 August 1917 after being captured by the

Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army () was the army of the Russian Empire, active from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was organized into a standing army and a state militia. The standing army consisted of Regular army, regular troops and ...

. He served in the 9th Czechoslovak Rifle Regiment Legion, 3rd troop, and stated that he had been in the 9th company of the 3rd regiment of Karel Havlíček. His legionary service ended on 2 August 1920 with the rank of

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

Writing career

After the war Jelínek moved to

, worked as a revenue clerk, and wrote for a newspaper. He also became a leading member of the Czechoslovak legionnaires' syndicate (ČsOL). His ''The veterans from Czechoslovak Legions of the Region Boskovice'' describes the activity of the Czechoslovak Legions from Boskovice in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, and

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. Nearly 14,300 people from the area served in the First World War, or approximately 17 percent of the 1914 population. Of these legionnaires, 1,824 were killed, 604 were injured, and 2,600 were captured. Jelínek researched the book by interviewing other former legionnaires, gaining insight into their lives after the war, their experience in the legions, and their motivations for joining. Jelínek made his last public appearance on 25 October 1968 during a celebration of Czechoslovakia's 50th anniversary.Vlastivědné listy Boskovicka, no. 4, November 2007, year 15 (20), p. 4

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jelinek, Jan 1893 births 1974 deaths People from Vyškov Austro-Hungarian military personnel of World War I World War I prisoners of war held by Russia Czechoslovak prisoners of war Czechoslovak Legion Czechoslovak writers Czechoslovak male writers Czechoslovak Legions in literature