Vítězslav Nezval

Vítězslav Nezval

Vítězslav Nezval (26 May 1900 – 6 April 1958) was a Czech poet.

Biography

Vítězslav Nezval was born in the village of Biskoupky on 26 May 1900. In 1919 started to study law at the University of Brno, but quickly realised that he did not want to be a lawyer. He went to Prague instead and entered the Faculty of Philosophy of Prague University. He attended lectures given by František Xaver Šalda, a famous literary critic, there. He was active in the Devětsil literary group. In 1926 he met Františka Řepová, who later became his wife. During the Second World War he was shortly imprisoned. After the war he worked for the Ministry of Information. He died on 6 April 1958 in Prague.

Works

Vítězslav Nezval was a poet, playwright, author of novels, translator and literary critic. He wrote a lot. He was a representative of Poetismus, which was Czech avantgarde. He was also a leading Czech surrealist. His poetry was strongly influenced by modern French literature. He also wrote a book of ballads in the manner of François Villon 52 hořkých balad věčného studenta Roberta Davida. Nezval's most important works are poems Edison, Signál času, Akrobat and Podivuhodný kouzelník. They were collected in the book named Básně noci. His novel Valérie a týden divů was made into a movie in 1970 by Jaromil Jireš. Many his poems were translated into English. For example Ewald Osers translated Edison.

Bibliography

• Vítězslav Nezval, Edison. Báseň o pěti zpěvech. English translation: Ewald Osers, Dvořák, Pelhřimov 2003, ISBN 80-239-0456-6