Edvard Valenta (22 January 1901 in

Prostějov Prostějov (; ) is a city in the Olomouc Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 43,000 inhabitants. The city is historically known for its fashion industry. The historic city centre is well preserved and is protected as an urban monument zo ...

– 21 August 1978 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 ...

) 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 ...

journalist and writer.

Life

Valenta was born into the family of a medical doctor. After finishing secondary school in 1918 he started to study at a technical university, but soon left to work as a journalist. In 1920 Valenta joined the

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 ...

office of the newspaper ''

Lidové noviny ''Lidové noviny'' (''People's News'', or ''The People's Newspaper'', ) is a daily newspaper published in Prague, the Czech Republic. It is the oldest Czech daily still in print, and a newspaper of record. It is a national news daily covering po ...

''. He stayed there until February 1948 when he was purged by the new Communist regime. In December 1948 Valenta was taken into custody, and in July 1949 he was given a short sentence. Although imprisoned for a relatively short time, his health deteriorated. Valenta was allowed to publish again during a period of cultural liberalisation. Among his most important works are recordings of the adventures of Jan Welzl (together with colleague Bedřich Golombek), a biography of the African explorer

Emil Holub Emil Holub (7 October 1847 – 21 February 1902) was a Czechs, Czech physician, explorer, cartographer, and ethnographer in Africa. Early life Holub was born in Holice in eastern Kingdom of Bohemia, Bohemia (then within the Austrian Empire, no ...

, and the

psychological novel In literature, psychological fiction (also psychological realism) is a narrative genre that emphasizes interior characterization and motivation to explore the spiritual, emotional, and mental lives of its characters. The mode of narration examin ...

''Jdi za zeleným světlem''. The novel depicts the life of an intellectual who, affected by tragic events, decides to start a new life in a small, quiet village. The cruelty of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

occupation is described and at the end the main character of the novel is shot by retreating German soldiers.

Selected works

* Valenta had recorded stories of Jan Welzl and they were published in four books during the 1930s. * ''Lidé, které jsem potkal cestou'', 1939. * ''Druhé housle'', 1943. Biography of

. * ''Kouty srdce a světa'', 1946. * ''Kvas'', 1947. * ''Světem pro nic za nic'', 1947. Book of travels in the

Americas The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.''Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sing ...

. * ''Poprvé a naposledy'', 1948. * ''Jdi za zeleným světlem'', 1956. A psychological portrait of an intellectual during occupation. * ''Nejkrásnější země'', 1958. * ''Trám'', 1963. * ''Dlouhán v okně'', 1965. * ''Život samé psaní'', 1970. * ''Žil jsem s miliardářem'', 1979. Remembrance of industrialist

Jan Antonín Baťa Jan Antonín Baťa (7 March 1898 – 23 August 1965) (also known as Jan Antonin Bata or Jan Bata, called the King of Shoes) was a Czech-Brazilian shoe manufacturer from Uherské Hradiště (southeastern Moravia), half-brother of Tomáš Baťa. ...

. * ''Žít ještě jednou'', 1983. A detective novel.

External links

Short biography
(in Czech)
Overview of the novel ''Jdi za zeleným světlem''
(in Czech) {{DEFAULTSORT:Valenta, Edvard 1901 births 1971 deaths Czech journalists Czech male poets 20th-century Czech poets 20th-century Czech male writers Writers from Prostějov 20th-century journalists