Věra Linhartová (born 22 March, 1938) is 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 ...

writer and an art

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

. She was born 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 ...

and studied art history at Jan Evangelista Purkyně University and aesthetics at

Charles University in Prague Charles University (CUNI; , UK; ; ), or historically as the University of Prague (), is the largest university in the Czech Republic. It is one of the oldest universities in the world in continuous operation, the oldest university north of the ...

. She worked in the art gallery at Hluboká Castle. From 1962 to 1965, she was involved with the

surrealist Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...

group 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 ...

and also contributed to the young writers' journal ''Tvář''. In 1968, Linhartová moved to

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 ...

. Since 1969, she has been writing in French. In 1972, she was the first female juror of the Neustadt International Prize for Literature, known then as Books Abroad. She nominated French author

Nathalie Sarraute Nathalie Sarraute (; born Natalia Ilinichna Tcherniak (); – 19 October 1999) was a French writer and lawyer. She was nominated in 1969 for the Nobel Prize in Literature by Nobel Committee member Lars Gyllensten. Personal life Sarraute wa ...

, but the Prize was awarded to Colombian author

Gabriel García Márquez Gabriel José García Márquez (; 6 March 1927 – 17 April 2014) was a Colombian writer and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo () or Gabito () throughout Latin America. Considered one of the most significant authors of the 20th centur ...

that year. She studied Japanese in Paris and from 1989 to 1990, she lived in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

on a research grant. She edited and translated ''Dada et Surréalisme au Japon'' (1987). Linhartová received the Jaroslav Seifert Prize in 1998. In 2010, she received the F. X. Šalda Award and the

Tom Stoppard prize The Tom Stoppard Prize () is a literary award given annually for outstanding primarily non-fiction work by a writer of Czech origin. It was established in 1983 and first awarded in 1984, to Eva Kantůrková for '' My Companions in the Bleak House' ...

for her collection of essays ''Soustředné kruhy'' (Collected Circles).

Selected works

* ''Meziprůzkum nejblíž uplynulého'' (Intersurvey of the nearest past), short stories (1964) * ''Prostor k rozlišení'' (Space for differentiation), short stories (1964) * ''Rozprava o zdviži'' (Discourse about a lift), prose (1965) * ''Přestořeč'' (Despite speech), short stories (1966) * ''Chiméra neboli Průřez cibulí'', prose (1967) * ''Dada et Surréalisme au Japon (''Modern Art in Japan'')'' (1987). * ''Ianus tří tváří'' (Three-faced Janus), poetry (1993) * ''Mes oubliettes'' (My dungeons) (1998) * ''Soustředné kruhy'', essays (2011)

References

1938 births Living people Czech women writers Czech art historians Czech short story writers Women art historians Czech women short story writers Masaryk University alumni Charles University alumni Czech women essayists Czech essayists Czech women poets Writers from Brno 20th-century Czech women writers 20th-century Czech poets 21st-century Czech women writers 21st-century Czech historians 21st-century Czech poets Czechoslovak emigrants to France {{CzechRepublic-writer-stub