The Modern Novel

Biography

Vítězslav Nezval was born in Biskoupky in 1900. His father was a school teacher but was also a musician who studied under Leoš Janáček. Nezval learned to play the piano and compose music while at school, though soon turned to writing. He was called up to the Austrian army in1918 but was sent home when he took ill. After the war he studied philosophy at the Charles University but did not finish his degree.

He joined the avant-garde Devětsil group in 1922, consisting of writers and artists and inspired by what was going on in France. Many of the group had strong left-wing views and were inspired by Lenin. Nezval was involved in Poetism, an avant-garde Czech poetry movement. He travelled to France where he met André Breton and other Surrealists. He helped found theThe Surrealist Group of Czechoslovakia in 1924. After World War II, he was very active in the Communist Party , receiving a number of official honours and positions. As well as poetry and prose, he also wrote plays. He was a keen student of astrology and predicted his own death. He left an incomplete astrology textbook after his death.

Though never married he had a son with Olga Jungová. He died in 1958. His collected work amounted to 38 volumes.

Other links

Vítězslav Nezval
Vítězslav Nezval
Vítězslav Nezval
East of Eden: Vítězslav Nezval and Czech Surrealism
Singing in the Rain with Vítězslav Nezval
The Unimaginable Muse: On Translating Vítězslav Nezval
Vítězslav Nezval
Vítězslav Nezval (in Czech)