Jiří Wolker

Jiří Wolker
Born	Jiří Karel Wolker (1900-03-29)29 March 1900 Prostějov, Austria-Hungary
Died	3 January 1924(1924-01-03) (aged 23) Prostějov, Czechoslovakia
Occupation	Poet
Nationality	Czech
Notable works	Host do domu Těžká hodina
Signature

Statue of Jiří Wolker in Prostějov

birthplace of Jiří Wolker with his bust in Prostějov

Jiří Wolker (Czech pronunciation: [ˈjɪr̝iː ˈvolkr̩]) (29 March 1900 – 3 January 1924) was a Czech poet, journalist and playwright. He was one of the founding members of KSČ - Communist Party of Czechoslovakia - in 1921.

Life

He was born in Prostějov, into a cultural family. He studied at the Prostějov gymnasium, and after he graduated, he moved to Prague. He studied law there, but simultaneously attended lectures of Zdeněk Nejedlý and F. X. Šalda at the Faculty of Arts. He was in close connection with the association of Czech avant-garde artists Devětsil. Wolker suffered of lung disease and died of tuberculosis at age 23.

Work

• Host do domu (1921) - poetry
• Proletářské umění (1922)
• Těžká hodina (1922) - poetry, the book jacket of the first edition was created by the Czech painter Josef Čapek.
• Tři hry (1923) - plays, rather marginal meaning
• Do boje, lásko, leť

References

• Bohuš Balajka: Přehledné dějiny literatury II. Prague: Fortuna, 2005. ISBN 80-7168-781-2