Jan Vodňanský (19 June 1941 – 10 March 2021) was a Czech writer, songwriter, singer and humorist. He was best known for his collaboration with musician Petr Skoumal.

Biography

Vodňanský was born on 19 June 1941 in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

. He studied at Construction Faculty of the

Czech Technical University Czech Technical University in Prague (CTU) () is one of the largest universities in the Czech Republic with 8 faculties, and is one of the oldest institutes of technology in Central Europe. It is also the oldest non-military technical universi ...

, later he studied philosophy and history at

Faculty of Arts, Charles University The Faculty of Arts, Charles University (), is one of the original four faculties of Charles University in Prague. When founded, it was named the Faculty of the Liberal Arts or the Artistic Faculty. The faculty provides lectures in the widest ran ...

and obtained PhDr title. After his studies, he started working in radio and in 1964 he met composer and pianist Petr Skoumal, with whom he began to collaborate. After Vodňanský signed

Charter 77 Charter 77 (''Charta 77'' in Czech language, Czech and Slovak language, Slovak) was an informal civic initiative in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic from 1976 to 1992, named after the document Charter 77 from January 1977. Founding members ...

and became an enemy of the communist regime in Czechoslovakia, the duo had to stop working. After the breakup of the duo, Vodňanský worked in

Bratislava Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

and performed in programs for children. After the

Velvet Revolution The Velvet Revolution () or Gentle Revolution () was a non-violent transition of power in what was then Czechoslovakia, occurring from 17 November to 28 November 1989. Popular demonstrations against the one-party government of the Communist Pa ...

, he lectured philosophy at the

, and performed in theatres and on foreign tours. He died on 10 March 2021, at the age of 79 from

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Czech Republic.

Work

Playing with words and ironic humor were typical for Vodňanský's work. He started by writing texts based on absurd humor, he also wrote songs and texts for children. With Petr Skoumal he composed several songs for radio fairy tales and for films for children. The breakthrough was their full-length program in the Drama Club called ''S úsměvem idiota'' ("With an Idiot's Smile"), which was also published as an audio recording and as a book.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vodnansky, Jan 1941 births 2021 deaths Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in the Czech Republic Artists from Prague Czech writers Czech songwriters Czech humorists Charter 77 signatories Charles University alumni Czech Technical University in Prague alumni