Rudolf Tesnohlídek
Encyclopedia
Rudolf Těsnohlídek was a Czech writer, journalist and translator. He also used the pseudonym
Arnošt Bellis.
and later started to study Czech, history and French at university in Prague
but didn't finish.
Starting in 1908, he was a contributor to the Brno newspaper Lidové noviny
. His serialized novel Liška Bystrouška (Vixen Sharp Ears), written to accompany a series of drawings by Stanislav Lolek
, appeared in the Lidové noviny between 7 April and 23 June 1920, was published as a book in 1921, won a state prize and achieved lasting popularity. This optimistic tale, somewhere between a children's fairy tale and adult satire, was used as the basis for Leoš Janáček
's opera
The Cunning Little Vixen
(Příhody Lišky Bystroušky, 1923).
Some of Těsnohlídek's other work reflects more pessimism and alienation than the lighthearted Vixen's tale.
His life, as interpreted by his journalistic colleague Bedřich Golombek, was a melodramatic tragedy imbued with pessimism, darkness, melancholy and decadence, a life plagued from childhood by feelings of sadness and social exclusion. In his teens, he watched helplessly as a friend drowned. When he was 21, he married Jindra Kopecká, a woman with tuberculosis. Two months after their wedding, on a holiday in Norway, she shot herself in the heart in front of him, possibly accidentally. Těsnohlídek was accused of murdering her, and had to endure two trials before being acquitted. In 1907 he moved to Brno, where he became a reporter of soudničky (cases from the local magistrate's court) for Lidové noviny. After he had met Janáček and discussed plans for the opera based on Liška Bystrouška, he married again, but this wife left him. He married a third time. He became interested in exploring the Moravian underground caves, wrote extensively about them, and submitted his drafts for publication but found they had been heavily edited without his knowledge. On 12 January, 1928, he shot himself, as his first wife had done. His third wife gassed herself to death on hearing the news.
Vixen Sharp Ears was first published in English in 1985, as The Cunning Little Vixen, with pictures by Maurice Sendak
.
Dva mezi ostatními (Two Among Others)(1906)
Květy v jíní {Flowers in Hoarfrost)(1908)
Poseidon (1916)
Liška Bystrouška (Vixen Sharp-ears, The Cunning Little Vixen
)(1920)
Kolonia Kutejsík (1922, awarded a state prize)
Paví oko (Peacock's Eye)(1922)
Čimčirínek a chlapci (Čimčirínek and the Boys)(1922, stories for children)
Den (Day)(1923)
Vrba zelená (Green Willow)(1925)
Cvrček na cestách (Cricket on the move)(1927)
Surovost z něžnosti a jiné soudničky {The Brutality of Tenderness and Other soudničky)(a collection of his soudničky, published in 1982)
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
Arnošt Bellis.
Life
He attended secondary school (gymnasium) in Hradec KrálovéHradec Králové
Hradec Králové is a city of the Czech Republic, in the Hradec Králové Region of Bohemia. The city's economy is based on food-processing technology, photochemical, and electronics manufacture. Traditional industries include musical instrument manufacturing – the best known being PETROF pianos...
and later started to study Czech, history and French at university in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
but didn't finish.
Starting in 1908, he was a contributor to the Brno 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...
. His serialized novel Liška Bystrouška (Vixen Sharp Ears), written to accompany a series of drawings by Stanislav Lolek
Stanislav Lolek
Czech artist Stanislav Lolek is best known for his illustrations in the serialized novella Liška Bystrouška. The editor of the newspaper Lidové Noviny passed on some of Lolek's illustrations of a rural tale about a gamekeeper and a vixen to Czech author Rudolf Těsnohlídek and their collaboration ...
, appeared in the Lidové noviny between 7 April and 23 June 1920, was published as a book in 1921, won a state prize and achieved lasting popularity. This optimistic tale, somewhere between a children's fairy tale and adult satire, was used as the basis for Leoš Janáček
Leoš Janácek
Leoš Janáček was a Czech composer, musical theorist, folklorist, publicist and teacher. He was inspired by Moravian and all Slavic folk music to create an original, modern musical style. Until 1895 he devoted himself mainly to folkloristic research and his early musical output was influenced by...
's opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
The Cunning Little Vixen
The Cunning Little Vixen
The Cunning Little Vixen is an opera by Leoš Janáček, with a libretto adapted by the composer from a serialized novella by Rudolf Těsnohlídek and Stanislav Lolek, which was first published in the newspaper Lidové noviny.-Composition history:When Janáček discovered Těsnohlídek's...
(Příhody Lišky Bystroušky, 1923).
Some of Těsnohlídek's other work reflects more pessimism and alienation than the lighthearted Vixen's tale.
His life, as interpreted by his journalistic colleague Bedřich Golombek, was a melodramatic tragedy imbued with pessimism, darkness, melancholy and decadence, a life plagued from childhood by feelings of sadness and social exclusion. In his teens, he watched helplessly as a friend drowned. When he was 21, he married Jindra Kopecká, a woman with tuberculosis. Two months after their wedding, on a holiday in Norway, she shot herself in the heart in front of him, possibly accidentally. Těsnohlídek was accused of murdering her, and had to endure two trials before being acquitted. In 1907 he moved to Brno, where he became a reporter of soudničky (cases from the local magistrate's court) for Lidové noviny. After he had met Janáček and discussed plans for the opera based on Liška Bystrouška, he married again, but this wife left him. He married a third time. He became interested in exploring the Moravian underground caves, wrote extensively about them, and submitted his drafts for publication but found they had been heavily edited without his knowledge. On 12 January, 1928, he shot himself, as his first wife had done. His third wife gassed herself to death on hearing the news.
Vixen Sharp Ears was first published in English in 1985, as The Cunning Little Vixen, with pictures by Maurice Sendak
Maurice Sendak
Maurice Bernard Sendak is an American writer and illustrator of children's literature. He is best known for his book Where the Wild Things Are, published in 1963.-Early life:...
.
Work
Nénie (1902) - poetryDva mezi ostatními (Two Among Others)(1906)
Květy v jíní {Flowers in Hoarfrost)(1908)
Poseidon (1916)
Liška Bystrouška (Vixen Sharp-ears, The Cunning Little Vixen
The Cunning Little Vixen
The Cunning Little Vixen is an opera by Leoš Janáček, with a libretto adapted by the composer from a serialized novella by Rudolf Těsnohlídek and Stanislav Lolek, which was first published in the newspaper Lidové noviny.-Composition history:When Janáček discovered Těsnohlídek's...
)(1920)
Kolonia Kutejsík (1922, awarded a state prize)
Paví oko (Peacock's Eye)(1922)
Čimčirínek a chlapci (Čimčirínek and the Boys)(1922, stories for children)
Den (Day)(1923)
Vrba zelená (Green Willow)(1925)
Cvrček na cestách (Cricket on the move)(1927)
Surovost z něžnosti a jiné soudničky {The Brutality of Tenderness and Other soudničky)(a collection of his soudničky, published in 1982)