Rudolf Těsnohlídek

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Memorial plaque of Rudolf Těsnohlídek near Brno.

Rudolf Těsnohlídek (7 June 1882 in Čáslav - 12 January 1928 in Brno, suicide) was a Czech writer, journalist and translator. He also used the pseudonym Arnošt Bellis.

He studied gymnastics in Hradec Králové and later started to study philosophy in Prague but didn't finish.

Starting in 1908, he was a contributor to the newspaper Lidové Noviny. His serialized novella (daily comic) Liška Bystrouška, based on a series of drawings by Stanislav Lolek, appeared in the Lidové Noviny 7 April to 23 June 1920. 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).

Těsnohlídek's other work reflects more pessimism and alienation than the lighthearted Vixen's tale.