Vítězslav Nezval
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Vítězslav Nezval (IPA: [ˈviːcɛslaf ˈnɛzval]) (May 26, 1900, Biskoupky – April 6, 1958, Prague) was one of the most prolific Czech writers.
[edit] Biography
A son of a teacher in the village of Biskoupky, he attended high school in Třebíč. In 1920 he started his university studies in Prague, but soon left. He worked as a secretary of Masarykův naučný slovník for a year. From 1928 to 1929 he was a dramaturgist of the Osvobozené divadlo. From 1945 to 1951 he was a director of the Film Department of the Ministry of Information. He was a member of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia and later worked as a professional writer of communist propaganda poetry.
[edit] Literary work
As a member of the avant-garde group of artists Devětsil (literally "Nine Forces," the Czech name of the Butterbur plant), he was a founding figure of the Poetism movement. His output consists of a number of poetry collections, experimental plays and novels, memoirs, essays, and translations. His best works are from the interwar period. Along with Karel Teige, Jindřich Štyrský, and Toyen, Nezval frequently traveled to Paris, engaging with the French surrealists. Forging a friendship with André Breton and Paul Eluard, he was instrumental in founding The Surrealist Group of Czechoslovakia in 1934 (the first group of this kind outside France), serving as an editor of the group's journal Surrealismus.
