Ignát Herrmann (12 August 1854 in

Chotěboř Chotěboř (; german: Chotieborsch) is a town in Havlíčkův Brod District in the Vysočina Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 9,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument z ...

– 8 July 1935 in

Řevnice Řevnice () is a town in Prague-West District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 3,600 inhabitants. Geography Řevnice lies about southwest of Prague. It lies on both banks of the river Berounka. Most of the town ...

) was a Czech novelist, satirist and editor. He sometimes used the pseudonym ''Vojta Machatý, Švanda''. The thirteenth child of a solicitor's copyist, he attended school in

Hradec Králové Hradec Králové (; german: Königgrätz) is a city of the Czech Republic. It has about 91,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Hradec Králové Region. The historic centre of Hradec Králové is well preserved and is protected by law as a ...

, then in 1868 travelled to

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 ...

to begin a career in retail. He worked for several companies, from 1873 for the publisher Otto-Verlag, for whom he became a courtroom reporter. From 1876 to 1878 he edited the satirical magazine ''Paleček''; in 1882 he founded his own, ''Švanda dudák'', which he edited almost continuously until 1930. He worked for several years at a law firm before becoming, in 1885, editor of the ''

Národní listy ''Národní listy'' ("The National Newspaper") was a Czech newspaper published in Prague from 1861 to 1941. History The decision to start ''Národni listy'' began in September 1860. The first issue of the newspaper was first published in Janua ...

'', for which he had been an administrator. From 1888 he was chairman of the "May Society" of Czech authors (''

Májovci The ''Májovci'' ("''May'' School") were a significant group of Czech novelists and poets of the second half of the 19th century, who were inspired by the work of Karel Hynek Mácha, Karel Havlíček Borovský and Karel Jaromír Erben. After the ...

''). He edited the first edition (1892-4) of the complete works of

Jan Neruda Jan Nepomuk Neruda (Czech: �jan ˈnɛpomuk ˈnɛruda 9 July 1834 – 22 August 1891) was a Czech journalist, writer, poet and art critic; one of the most prominent representatives of Czech Realism and a member of the " May School". Early lif ...

. His literary work was closely tied to his journalism, and mostly dealt with the personalities and life of Prague. His first novel was the partly autobiographical ''U snědeného krámu'' (1890). The same year he wrote a play, ''Manželova přítelkyně'', but it was not successful. He wrote several serial novels like ''Páté přes deváté'' and ''Muž bez třináctky''. In ''Národní listy'' he published his most successful novel ''Otec Kondelík a ženich Vejvara'' (1898) as well as the sequel ''Tchán Kondelík a zeť Vejvara'' (1906). The main character, narrow-minded old "Papa Kondelík", is his most famous creation. His fiction has frequently been adapted for the cinema. He wrote 387 short stories, but the only English translations are of "Childless" and "Mr Vašek." German translations are collected in ''Allerlei Tierchen und Leuchten'' (1935) and ''Ausgewählte Geschichten'' (1908). There are also a handful of Esperanto translations.

Novels and stories

* ''Z chudého kalamáře'' (short stories) * ''Pražské figury'' * ''U snědeného krámu'' * ''Pražské figury'' * ''Domácí štěstí'' * ''Páté přes deváté'' * ''Humor parnassu českého'' * ''Historie o doktoru Faustovi'' * ''Otec Kondelík a ženich Vejvara'' * ''Tchán Kondelík a zeť Vejvara'' * ''Artur a Leontýnka''

Bibliography

* M. Hýsek. ''Ignát Herrmann'', Prague 1934. {{DEFAULTSORT:Herrmann, Ignat 1854 births 1935 deaths Czech novelists Male novelists Czech male writers Czech satirists Czech journalists People from Chotěboř