Zdenek Jirotka
Encyclopedia
Zdeněk Jirotka was a Czech
writer of radio-broadcast plays and author of humorous novels, short stories, and feuilletons. He was born in Ostrava
(North Moravia), sat for the leaving examination at the secondary industrial school in Hradec Králové (East Bohemia) in 1933 and then joined the Army where he served until 1940. After the Nazis had annexed the Czechoslovakia, Jirotka worked for the Public Works Ministry and in 1942, when his most famous novel "Saturnin" earned him a great success, he became a full-time writer. Among other newspapers and magazines that Jirotka contributed for were: the Lidové noviny (1940-1945), the Svobodné noviny (1945-1951), and the Dikobraz (1951-1953 and after 1962).
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...
writer of radio-broadcast plays and author of humorous novels, short stories, and feuilletons. He was born in Ostrava
Ostrava
Ostrava is the third largest city in the Czech Republic and the second largest urban agglomeration after Prague. Located close to the Polish border, it is also the administrative center of the Moravian-Silesian Region and of the Municipality with Extended Competence. Ostrava was candidate for the...
(North Moravia), sat for the leaving examination at the secondary industrial school in Hradec Králové (East Bohemia) in 1933 and then joined the Army where he served until 1940. After the Nazis had annexed the Czechoslovakia, Jirotka worked for the Public Works Ministry and in 1942, when his most famous novel "Saturnin" earned him a great success, he became a full-time writer. Among other newspapers and magazines that Jirotka contributed for were: the Lidové noviny (1940-1945), the Svobodné noviny (1945-1951), and the Dikobraz (1951-1953 and after 1962).
Works
- Saturnin, originally published in 1942 (translated into English in 1970), a humorous and satirical story of a characteristic servant, Saturnin, who carries out eccentric tasks given by his young employer. The book plays upon words and senses of Czech proverbs. Its characters and events reflect the author's nostalgia for the epoch before World War II.