Petr Urban (born 8 August 1960) is a Czech illustrator, cartoonist, painter and former

luge A luge () is a small one- or two-person sled on which one sleds Supine position, supine (face-up) and feet-first. A luger begins seated, propelling themselves initially from handles on either side of the start ramp, then steers by using the Ca ...

r. He draws jokes for newspapers and magazines and is known in his country for the character of the pub loafer Ruda Pivrnec. He participated in the Olympic Games as a luger in 1988 and 1992.

Life and family

Petr Urban was born in a hospital in

Jablonec nad Nisou Jablonec nad Nisou (; ) is a city in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 46,000 inhabitants. It is the second-largest city in the region. It is a local centre for education, and is known for its glass and jewelry production, espe ...

, but he is native of the nearby town of

Smržovka Smržovka () is a town in Jablonec nad Nisou District in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 3,900 inhabitants. Etymology The name Smržovka was given to town by overgrown mountain forest, where there was a large amount of Morch ...

. He lives in Smržovka his entire life. His father is the luger

Horst Urban Horst Urban (15 May 1936 – 2 March 2010) was a Czech luger. He competed at the 1964 Winter Olympics and the 1968 Winter Olympics. Life Urban was born on 15 May 1936 in Jablonec nad Nisou, but he lived in the nearby town of Smržovka, where hi ...

and his uncle is the luger

Roland Urban Roland Urban (29 March 1940 – 26 February 2011) was a Czech luger. He competed at the 1964 Winter Olympics and the 1968 Winter Olympics The 1968 Winter Olympics, officially known as the X Olympic Winter Games (), were a winter multi-sport ...

. He is married and has a son, Petr Jr.

Artistic career

The main part of Urban's artistic career is drawing jokes for magazines and newspapers. He is best known for the character of the pub loafer Ruda Pivrnec, who appears repeatedly in his jokes throughout his career. He is the author of dozens of books with cartoon jokes, but he also illustrated books by various authors. Since 1993, he has been annually publishing his own calendar. In 2014, he painted fifteen serious images for the

Stations of the Cross The Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross, also known as the Via Dolorosa, Way of Sorrows or the , are a series of fourteen images depicting Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ on the day of Crucifixion of Jesus, his crucifixion and acc ...

in Smržovka. Urban is the author of the longest cartoon joke in the world. It contains no words, is long and was published as a book in 2019.

Sports career

Urban competed in

at the

1988 Winter Olympics The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Calgary 1988 were a multi-sport event held from February 13 to 28, 1988, with Calgary, Calgary, Alberta as the main host city. This marks the m ...

and the

1992 Winter Olympics The 1992 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVI Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Albertville '92 (Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Arbèrtvile '92''), were a winter multi-sport event held from 8 to 23 February 1992 in and aroun ...

. In 1988, he finished 16th in the men's singles event and 13th in the doubles event (with Luboš Jíra). In 1992, he finished 19th in the men's singles event and 15th in the doubles event (with Jan Kohoutek). Urban became the champion of the Czech Republic or Czechoslovakia 17 times.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Urban, Petr 1960 births Living people People from Jablonec nad Nisou District 20th-century Czech illustrators 21st-century Czech illustrators Czech magazine illustrators 20th-century Czech painters 21st-century Czech painters Czech male lugers Olympic lugers for Czechoslovakia Lugers at the 1988 Winter Olympics Lugers at the 1992 Winter Olympics