An extensive introduction to Jaroslav Seifert, the Czech poet, writer, journalist and translator would mean repeating what has already been published many times before. Jaroslav’s father, originally a clerk then later a retailer and eventually a workman – perhaps because of a social downslide or perhaps due to his social awareness for both – later became an avid socialist, while his wife was a deeply devout Catholic.
Jaroslav was born into this poor Žižkov family background on 23 September 1901. Eventually, he missed so many lessons that he failed to complete his studies at the higher secondary school. Nevertheless, his fi rst poems and his fi rst collection of poetry titled „Město v slzách“ (Town in tears) were published in 1919 and 1921 respectively. The Communist Party was founded in the same year and Jaroslav became a member. He survived the war, as the editor of Národní práce. In the 1950s, illness prevented him from further active work, although it did not stop him attending the II. Congress of Czechoslovak Writers (1956), at which he criticized the cultural policy of the Communists towards “troublesome” authors, to whom he himself belonged. It is curious that ten years later (1966) he was awarded the title of National Artist and ten years after that, in December 1976, he became one of the fi rst signatories of Charter 77. With the arrival of normalization, he was completely disgraced. Despite this, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature (1984) but did not live to see the fall of the regime. Jaroslav Seifert died on 10 January 1986.
Lucie Sládková
Nesouhlas se zpracováním Vašich osobních údajů byl zaznamenán.
Váš záznam bude z databáze Vydavatelstvím KAM po Česku s.r.o. vymazán neprodleně, nejpozději však v zákonné lhůtě.
