Svatopluk Čech (21 February 1846 in

Ostředek Ostředek is a municipality and village in Benešov District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 500 inhabitants. Administrative parts Villages of Bělčice, Mžižovice, Třemošnice and Vráž are administrative pa ...

near

Benešov Benešov (; german: Beneschau; also known as Benešov u Prahy) is a town in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 16,000 inhabitants. The town is known for the Konopiště Castle. Administrative parts Villages of Baba, ...

– 23 February 1908 in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

) was a Czech writer, journalist and poet.

Biography

Čech studied at gymnasium (secondary school) in Prague, then studied law, and later worked in the journals Květy,

Lumír ''Lumír'' is a weekly literary magazine that was established in 1851 by Ferdinand Břetislav Mikovec. It was the focal point of the neo-romantic nationalist poet Jaroslav Vrchlický and his Ossianic followers.Arne Novák & William Edward Ha ...

and

Světozor __NOTOC__ ''Světozor'' ("Seeing the World") was a Czech-language illustrated magazine published in 19th and 20th century. History and profile ''Světozor'' was created by Pavel Josef Šafařík in 1834. Šafařík was inspired by the British p ...

. His first poem, ''Husita na Baltu'', was published in the almanac ''Ruch'' in 1868. Similarly to his work ''Adamité'', it is inspired by history (

Hussite Wars The Hussite Wars, also called the Bohemian Wars or the Hussite Revolution, were a series of civil wars fought between the Hussites and the combined Catholic forces of Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund, the Papacy, European monarchs loyal to the ...

). His poem ''Evropa'' (1878) takes its cue from revolutionary movements of the time, his poem ''Slávie'' (1882) propagates ideals of Slavic unity, the poem ''Václav z Michalovic'' (1880) depicts religious oppression by the Jesuits, his poem ''Lešetínský kovář'' (1883 confiscated, 1899) social problems of industrialization. The books of lyrical poetry ''Jitřní písně'' (1887) and ''Nové písně'' (1888) reflect the national rebirth of the Czech people, and his poetry cycle ''Písně otroka'' reflects social problems. His best known work today is a series of satirical novels, ''Výlety pana Broučka'' (1888, 1889), two of which were used as the basis for Janáček's opera ''

The Excursions of Mr. Brouček to the Moon and to the 15th Century ''The Excursions of Mr. Brouček to the Moon and to the 15th Century'' ( Czech: ''Výlety páně Broučkovy'') is the complete title of Leoš Janáček’s fifth opera, based on two Svatopluk Čech novels, ''Pravý výlet pana Broučka do Měsí ...

'' (''Výlet pana Broučka do Měsíce''/''Výlet pana Broučka do XV. století''). Čech himself appears as an apparition in Act Three of the opera. A bridge in Prague bears the name

Svatopluk Čech Bridge Svatopluk Čech Bridge or Čech Bridge ( cs, Čechův most) is an arch bridge over the river Vltava in Prague, Czech Republic. History and description Construction of the bridge started in 1905 and finished in 1908. Its length is (one of the sh ...

(''Most Svatopluka Čecha'') in his honor. Also multiple streets in various Czech cities are named after him. Svatopluk Čech was buried at the

Vyšehrad Cemetery Vyšehrad (Czech language, Czech for "upper castle") is a historic fort in Prague, Czech Republic, just over 3 km southeast of Prague Castle, on the east bank of the Vltava River. It was probably built in the 10th century. Inside the fort a ...

in Prague.

External links

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Short biography
Czech journalists Czech poets Czech male poets 1846 births 1908 deaths 19th-century poets 19th-century male writers People from Benešov District Burials at Vyšehrad Cemetery {{CzechRepublic-writer-stub