Ľudovít Lehen (3 June 1925 – 12 May 2014) was a painter and a

FIDE Master FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating an ...

for chess compositions.

Biography

Lehen studied at the University of Arts,

Bratislava Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approxim ...

between 1949 and 1955 under the professors D. Milly, V. Hložník. In 1956 Lehen won first place in the Czechoslovak national competition for realist productions and a year later won second place in a graphics art competition, . Near the conclusion of the 1950s his works toured

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. Ultimately, he was charged in a show trial typical of

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

Czechoslovakia, and from 1962 he spent 6 years behind bars at

Leopoldov Prison Leopoldov Prison ( sk, Ústav na výkon trestu odňatia slobody a Ústav na výkon väzby Leopoldov) is a 17th-century fortress built against Ottoman Turks that was converted into a high-security prison in the 19th century in the town of Leopoldov ...

. During the reforms of the

Prague Spring The Prague Spring ( cs, Pražské jaro, sk, Pražská jar) was a period of political liberalization and mass protest in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. It began on 5 January 1968, when reformist Alexander Dubček was elected First Sec ...

of 1968 he was found innocent and released, and after his release Lehen started painting and become very solitary. Some of his works are now on permanent display at the Slovak National Gallery in Bratislava. He composed chess problems since 1977. He has gained distinctions including the first prizes in many chess composition tourneys, often in coauthorship with IM Juraj Brabec. This composing duo pioneered many complex themes in

fairy A fairy (also fay, fae, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Celtic, Slavic, Germanic, English, and French folklore), a form of spirit, ...

twomover A chess problem, also called a chess composition, is a puzzle set by the composer using chess pieces on a chess board, which presents the solver with a particular task. For instance, a position may be given with the instruction that White is to ...

s, working usually in a way Brabec proposing the scheme and Lehen developing it in the artistically satisfactory manner. In 2005 he became a FIDE master of chess compositions.

Exhibitions in SlovakiaBills to exhibitions

*1967 – Leopoldov *1968 – Leopoldov *1973 – Trenčín – Art Protisy *1985 – Šaľa – Pastels *1998 – Galanta – Selection *2001 – ACTS - Bratislava *2003 – Bratislava Parliament

Studio

Lehen lived in

Petržalka Petržalka (; german: Engerau / Audorf; hu, Pozsonyligetfalu) is the largest borough of Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. Situated on the right bank of the river Danube, the area shares a land border with Austria, and is home to around 100,000 ...

. His flat was his studio and sometimes served as an exhibition room. His art centred on the female figure, sometimes as a daughter and sometimes as Venus or a girl in traditional clothing. The figures are stylized and included influences from non-European art.

References

*Chronicle Trencin *Chronicle Leopoldov *Bills to exhibitions *Slovak organization compositional chess (Slovenská organizácia kompozičného šachu) - Juraj Brabec, Juraj Lörinc: Ľudo Lehen.
Ľudovít Lehen bio and selected chess compositions
at Chess Composition Microweb

External links

Ľudo Lehen
* ttp://www.ludolehen.com/dval.htm Dušan Valocký: To independent exhibitions Ľudo Lehen - 2001br> With friends of chess composition - April 2008List of chess problems in Slovak newspapers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lehen, Ľudovít 1925 births 2014 deaths Chess composers People from Banská Bystrica Slovak painters