Ota Pavel (born ''Otto Popper''; 2 July 1930, 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 ...

– 31 March 1973, in Prague) was a Czech writer, journalist and sport reporter. He is primarily an author of autobiographical and biographical novels.

Biography

He was born in Prague as the third and youngest son of a

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

ish father, Leo Popper, who was a travelling salesman, and a Czech Christian mother.Weizmann, Kobi (2015).
Yedies fun varshe: Der yidisher teater shpilt Ota Pavels verk
" ews from Warsaw: The Jewish Theater produces Ota Pavel's work. ''Forverts'' (The YIddish Forward). Published online October 1, 2015; in print, October 30, 2015. Online version retrieved 2015-10-03. The family celebrated both Jewish and Christian holidays. During

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 ...

, his father and both his older brothers were imprisoned in

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

concentration camp A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploitati ...

s (his brother Jiří was imprisoned in Mauthausen). Otto remained with their mother, in

Buštěhrad Buštěhrad () is a town in Kladno District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 4,000 inhabitants. Etymology The settlement was originally named Buščeves, which was derived from ''Buškova ves'' (i.e. "Bušek's vil ...

. Young Otto briefly worked as a miner in the

Kladno Kladno (; ) is a city in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 70,000 inhabitants. It is the largest city in the region and has a rich industrial history. Administrative division Kladno consists of six municipal parts ...

Region. Both brothers and father survived Nazi imprisonment and returned home after the end of the World War. In 1960 Otto graduated at the ''Střední škola pro pracující'' (High School for Workers). He was an enthusiastic hockey player and played on the junior team of HC Sparta Praha, but his hopes for a professional ice-hockey career were dashed by a serious illness and tonsillectomy. He stayed on with Sparta for a short time to train its junior team. In 1949 his close friend Arnošt Lustig recommended that he concentrate on writing, and as a result, Popper was engaged as a sports reporter by Czechoslovak Radio. In 1955 he changed his name to Ota Pavel. From 1956 to 1957 he was a sports reporter for the journal ''Stadion'' (Stadium), then contributed for a few years to the army journal ''Československý voják'' (Czechoslovak Soldier). His first literary attempts (mainly short sport-related feuilletons) were published in ''Stadion''. His work as a journalist took him to the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. He was also allowed to travel to Western countries, including France and Switzerland. In 1962 he visited the United States with the Czech football team

Dukla Prague Dukla Prague () was a Czech football club from the city of Prague. Established in 1948 as ATK Praha, the club won a total of 11 Czechoslovak league titles and eight Czechoslovak Cups, and in the 1966–67 season, reached the semi-finals of the ...

. During the

1964 Winter Olympics The 1964 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IX Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Innsbruck 1964 (), were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in Innsbruck, Austria, from January 29 to February 9, 1964. The city was a ...

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; ) is the capital of Tyrol (federal state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the Wipptal, Wipp Valley, which provides access to the ...

he showed signs of the mental illness that would later end his official journalistic career. He later described the episode in his book ''How I Came to Know Fish'':

''"I went mad at the winter Olympics in Innsbruck. My brain got cloudy, as if a fog from the Alps had enveloped it. In that condition I came face to face with one gentleman - the Devil. He looked the part! He had hooves, fur, horns, and rotten teeth that looked hundreds of years old. With this figure in my mind I climbed the hills above Innsbruck and torched a farm building. I was convinced that only a brilliant bonfire could burn off that fog. As I was leading the cows and horses from the barn, the Austrian police arrived..."''

Following this he was diagnosed with

bipolar disorder Bipolar disorder (BD), previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of Depression (mood), depression and periods of abnormally elevated Mood (psychology), mood that each last from days to weeks, and in ...

. In 1966 the effects of this disease led to his retirement and thereafter several admissions to mental hospitals for treatment. This difficult period in his life was also his most creative, in which he produced his strongest and most lyrical collections, including ''How I Came to Know Fish''. Ota Pavel's work was focused on sports, especially fishing. Some of his works were adapted for the film: ''Zlatí úhoři'' (Golden Eels) (starring Vladimír Menšík) and ''Smrt krásných srnců''. Two of his books, ''Golden Eels'' and ''How I Came to Know Fish'' were translated into English. In 1973 Ota Pavel died of a sudden heart attack caused by an unknown condition. He was 42 years old. He is buried at the New Jewish cemetery in

- Žižkov, next to his father. Ota Pavel grave Strasnice 4919

Work

* ''Hory a lidé'', 1964 – book of photographs by Vilém Heckel, Pavel was the author of text * ''Dukla mezi mrakodrapy'', 1964 – sport theme, about the success of the Czech football team Dukla Praha in USA. * ''Plná bedna šampaňského'', 1967 – short stories * ''Cena vítězství'', 1968 – anthology * ''Pohár od Pánaboha'', 1971 * ''Smrt krásných srnců'', 1971 – memoirs of childhood and youth * ''Syn celerového krále'', 1972 – 16 short stories about famous sportsmen * ''Jak jsem potkal ryby'', 1974 – memoirs * ''Pohádka o Raškovi'', 1974 – "sport fairytale", inspired by the success of the Czech ski jumper Jiří Raška Published posthumously: * ''Fialový poustevník'', 1977 * ''Sedm deka zlata'', 1980 * ''Veliký vodní tulák'', 1980 – anthology * ''Zlatí úhoři'' (Golden Eels), 1985, new edition 1991 * ''Výstup na Eiger'', 1989 * ''Mám rád tu řeku'', 1989 * ''Jak šel táta Afrikou: Povídky'', 1994 - short stories * ''Omyl a jiné povídky'', 1995 - short stories * ''Olympijské hry a jiné povídky'', 1996 - short stories

Notes

References

* *

External links

* Johnston, Rosie (June 2, 2005).
Golden Eels and Long Ordeals: The life and times of Ota Pavel
" Radio Praha
Buštěhrad museum of Ota Pavel
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pavel, Ota Czech male journalists 1930 births 1973 deaths People with bipolar disorder Jewish Czech writers Writers from Prague 20th-century Czech journalists