Edvard Valenta was a Czech

Czech people

Czechs, or Czech people are a western Slavic people of Central Europe, living predominantly in the Czech Republic. Small populations of Czechs also live in Slovakia, Austria, the United States, the United Kingdom, Chile, Argentina, Canada, Germany, Russia and other countries...

 journalist and writer.

Valenta was born into a family of a medical doctor. After secondary school (finished in 1918) he started to study at a technical university but left soon for the work of journalist. In 1920 Valenta joined the Brno office of the newspaper Lidové noviny

Lidové noviny

Lidové noviny is a daily newspaper published in the Czech Republic. It is the oldest Czech daily. Its profile is nowadays a national news daily covering political, economic, cultural and scientific affairs, mostly with a centre-right, conservative view...

 and stayed here until February 1948 when he was purged away by the new communist regime. In December 1948 Valenta was taken into custody and in July 1949 given a short sentence. Although inprisoned for relatively short time his health has deteriorated. Valenta was allowed to publish again during period of cultural liberalisation.

Among his most important works are recordings of adventures of Jan Welzl (together with colleague Bedřich Golombek

Bedrich Golombek

Bedřich Golombek was a Czech journalist and writer.Golombek was born into family of a coal miner. He studied at a secondary school in Ostrava, immediately afterwards began work for the newspaper Lidové noviny, in the office in Brno...

), biography of African explorer Emil Holub

Emil Holub

Emil Holub was a Czech physician, explorer, cartographer, and ethnographer in Africa. In a 2005 poll, he was voted #90 of the 100 greatest Czechs.-Early life:...

 and psychological novel Jdi za zeleným světlem. The novel depicts life of an intellectual who, affected by tragic events, decides to start a new life in a small quiet village, in distance from the civilisation. The cruelty of World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 occupation graduates and at the end the main character of the novel is shot by retreating German soldiers.

Selected works

• Valenta had recorded stories of Jan Welzl and they were published in four books during 1930s.
• Lidé, které jsem potkal cestou, 1939.
• Druhé housle, 1943. Biography of Emil Holub
  Emil Holub
  Emil Holub was a Czech physician, explorer, cartographer, and ethnographer in Africa. In a 2005 poll, he was voted #90 of the 100 greatest Czechs.-Early life:...
  
  .
• Kouty srdce a světa, 1946.
• Kvas, 1947.
• Světem pro nic za nic, 1947. Book of travels in Americas
  Americas
  The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
  
  .
• Poprvé a naposledy, 1948.
• Jdi za zeleným světlem, 1956. A psychological portrait of an intellectual during occupation.
• Nejkrásnější země, 1958.
• Trám, 1963.
• Dlouhán v okně, 1965.
• Život samé psaní, 1970.
• Žil jsem s miliardářem, 1979. Remembrance on industrialist Jan Antonin Baťa
  Jan Antonín Bata
  Jan Antonín Baťa was a Czech shoe manufacturer from Uherské Hradiště , brother of Tomáš Baťa....
  
  .
• Žít ještě jednou, 1983. A detective novel.

External links

• Short biography (in Czech)
• Overview of the novel Jdi za zeleným světlem (in Czech)