Jaroslav Seifert (; 23 September 1901 – 10 January 1986) was a Czech writer, poet and journalist. Seifert was awarded the 1984 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his poetry which endowed with freshness, sensuality and rich inventiveness provides a liberating image of the indomitable spirit and versatility of man".

Biography

Born in Žižkov, a suburb of

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 ...

in what was then part of

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

, Seifert's first collection of poems was published in 1921. He was a member of the

Communist Party of Czechoslovakia The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia ( Czech and Slovak: ''Komunistická strana Československa'', KSČ) was a communist and Marxist–Leninist political party in Czechoslovakia that existed between 1921 and 1992. It was a member of the Com ...

(KSČ), the editor of a number of communist newspapers and magazines – ''Rovnost'', ''Sršatec'', and ''Reflektor'' – and the employee of a communist publishing house. During the 1920s he was considered a leading representative of the Czechoslovak artistic avant-garde. He was one of the founders of the journal '' Devětsil''. In March 1929, he and six other writers left the KSČ after signing a manifesto protesting against Bolshevized Stalinist-influenced tendencies in the new leadership of the party. He subsequently worked as a journalist in the social-democratic and trade union press during the 1930s and 1940s. In 1949 Seifert left journalism and began to devote himself exclusively to literature. His poetry was awarded important state prizes in 1936, 1955, and 1968, and in 1967 he was designated National Artist. He was the official Chairman of the Czechoslovak Writer's Union for several years (1968–70). In 1977 he was one of the signatories of

Charter 77 Charter 77 (''Charta 77'' in Czech language, Czech and Slovak language, Slovak) was an informal civic initiative in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic from 1976 to 1992, named after the document Charter 77 from January 1977. Founding members ...

in opposition to the government of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. Seifert was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1984. Due to bad health, he was not present at the award ceremony, and so his daughter accepted the Nobel Prize in his name. Even though it was a matter of great importance, there was only a brief remark of the award in the state-controlled media. He died on 10 January 1986, aged 84. He was buried in the family tomb in Kralupy nad Vltavou. His burial was marked by a high presence of the communist secret police, the StB, who tried to suppress any hint of dissent on the part of mourners.

Works

* ''Město v slzách'' (City in Tears, 1921) * ''Samá láska'' (Nothing but Love / Sheer Love, 1923) * ''Na vlnách TSF'' (On Wireless Waves / On the Waves of TSF, 1925) * ''Slavík zpívá špatně'' (The Nightingale Sings Badly/Poorly, 1926) * ''Básně'' (Poems, 1929) * ''Poštovní holub'' (Carrier Pigeon, 1929) * ''Hvězdy nad Rajskou zahradou'' (Stars Above the Garden of Eden, 1929) * ''Jablko z klína'' (An Apple from the Lap, 1933) * ''Ruce Venušiny'' (The Hands of Venus, 1936) * ''Zpíváno do rotačky'' (Songs for the Rotary Press, 1936) * ''Jaro, sbohem'' (Goodbye, Spring, 1937) * ''Zhasněte světla'' (Turn Off the Lights, 1938) * ''Vějíř Boženy Němcové'' (Božena Němcová's Fan, 1940) * ''Světlem oděná'' (Robed in Light, 1940) * ''Kamenný most'' (The Stone Bridge, 1944) * ''Přilba z hlíny'' (A Helmetful of Earth, 1945) * ''Ruka a plamen'' (The Hand and the Flame, 1948) * ''Šel malíř chudě do světa'' (The Painter Walks Poor into the World, 1949) * ''Píseň o Viktorce'' (A Song About Victorka, 1950) * ''Maminka'' (Mother, 1954) * ''Chlapec a hvězdy'' (The Boy and the Stars, 1956) * ''Praha a Věnec sonetů'' (A Wreath of Sonnets, 1956). English translation by Jan Křesadlo * ''Zrnka révy'' (Grapeseeds, 1965) * ''Koncert na ostrově'' (Concert on the Island, 1965) * ''Halleyova kometa'' (Halley's Comet, 1967) * ''Odlévání zvonů'' (The Casting of the Bells, 1967) * ''Kniha o Praze'' (A Book about Prague, 1968) * ''Morový sloup'' (The Plague Column, 1968–1970) * ''Deštník z Picadilly'' (An Umbrella from Piccadilly, 1979) * ''Všecky krásy světa'' (All the Beauties of the World, 1979, 1981?) * ''Býti básníkem'' (To Be a Poet, 1983)

References

External links

*
Nobel biography

of Seifert's crown of sonnets by Jan Křesadlo
The Poetry of Jaroslav Seifert
Translated by Edward icOsers
Jaroslav Seifert – Poetry

Jaroslav Seifert eNotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seifert, Jaroslav 1901 births 1986 deaths Writers from Prague Czech male poets Czech communist poets Charter 77 signatories Nobel laureates in Literature People from the Kingdom of Bohemia Nobel laureates from Austria-Hungary Czechoslovak Nobel laureates Sonneteers Recipients of the Order of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk 20th-century Czech poets Communist Party of Czechoslovakia members