Josef Václav Sládek (27 October 1845 in

Zbiroh Zbiroh () is a town in Rokycany District in the Plzeň Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 2,500 inhabitants. Administrative division Zbiroh consists of five municipal parts (in brackets population according to the 2021 census): *Zbiroh ( ...

– 28 June 1912 in Zbiroh) 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 ...

poet, journalist and translator, a member of the literary group , and a pioneer of

children's poetry Children's poetry is poetry children's literature, written for, appropriate for children, appropriate for, or enjoyed by children. Children's poetry is one of the oldest art forms, rooted in early oral tradition, folk poetry, and nursery rhymes ...

in Czech lands.

Life

In 1865, he graduated at the Academic Gymnasium in Prague. In 1867, he came to be suspected by 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 ...

police of supporting the Czech opposition movement against the monarchy. In 1868 he moved to United States, where he spent two years working as a laborer. He was interested in the fate of

indigenous peoples There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...

and black people. He described his American experience in a collection of poems (titled ''Poems'') and in one prose work (''American images''). His stay in the USA influenced him significantly. Throughout the rest of his life he focused on translating Anglo-American literature. He translated 33 plays by

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

and other works by

Burns Burns may refer to: Astronomy * 2708 Burns, an asteroid * Burns (crater), on Mercury People * Burns (surname), list of people and characters named Burns ** Burns (musician), Scottish record producer Places in the United States * Burns, ...

, Longfellow, Harte,

Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824) was an English poet. He is one of the major figures of the Romantic movement, and is regarded as being among the greatest poets of the United Kingdom. Among his best-kno ...

, Coleridge etc. A less well-known fact is that Sládek translated the Czech anthem

Kde domov můj "" (), known in English as "Where My Home Is", is the national anthem of the Czech Republic. It was composed by František Škroup and written by Josef Kajetán Tyl. History The piece was written as a part of the incidental music to the co ...

into English. Sládek was a good friend of

Antonín Dvořák Antonín Leopold Dvořák ( ; ; 8September 18411May 1904) was a Czech composer. He frequently employed rhythms and other aspects of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia, following the Romantic-era nationalist example of his predec ...

and from 1897 to 1898 lived in

Vysoká u Příbramě Vysoká u Příbramě is a municipality and village in Příbram District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 400 inhabitants. Demographics Notable people *Antonín Dvořák Antonín Leopold Dvořák ( ; ; 8S ...

close to Dvořák. His poems were set to music by Karel Bendl and Josef Bohuslav Foerster.

Works

Poetry

* ''Básně'' (1875) * ''Jiskry na moři'' (1880) * ''Světlou stopou'' (1881) * ''Na prahu ráje'' (1883) * ''Ze života'' (1884) * ''Sluncem a stínem'' (1887) * ''Selské písně'' (1890) * ''České znělky'' * ''Starosvětské písničky'' (1891) * ''Směska'' (1891) * ''České písně'' (1892) * ''V zimním slunci'' (1897) * ''Nové selské písně'' * ''Za soumraku'' (1907) * ''Léthé a jiné básně'' (1908)

References

External links

Josef Václav Sládek in ''The Great Soviet Encyclopedia'' (1979)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sladek, Josef Vaclav Czech male poets Czech journalists Czech translators Poets from Austria-Hungary Translators from Austria-Hungary Journalists from Austria-Hungary 1845 births 1912 deaths People from Rokycany District 19th-century translators