Jan Křesadlo facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jan Křesadlo
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| Born |
Václav Jaroslav Karel Pinkava
9 December 1926 Prague, Czechoslovakia
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| Died | 13 August 1995 (aged 68) Colchester, England
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| Nationality | Czech |
| Citizenship | British |
| Occupation | Clinical Psychologist |
| Children | 4 |
Václav Jaroslav Karel Pinkava (born December 9, 1926 – died August 13, 1995) was a talented Czech psychologist. He was also a prize-winning novelist and poet. He is best known by his special writing name, Jan Křesadlo.
Pinkava was against communism. He moved to Britain with his wife and four children after the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia. This invasion was carried out by Soviet-led armies. He worked as a psychologist until he retired early in 1982. After that, he spent all his time writing. His first novel, "Mrchopěvci" (which means GraveLarks), won the 1984 Egon Hostovský prize.
Contents
Why He Used Many Names
Jan Křesadlo chose his pen name because it means "firesteel." It also has the unique Czech sound ř. He liked to create many different writing names. Some of his other names included:
- Jake Rolands (which was an anagram of his name)
- J. K. Klement (for English translations, named after his grandfather)
- Juraj Hron (for his writings about the Slovak-Moravian region)
- Ferdinand Lučovický z Lučovic a na Suchým dole (for his music)
- Kamil Troud (for his drawings)
- Ἰωάννης Πυρεῖα (for his epic poem Astronautilia)
A Man of Many Talents
Václav Pinkava was a true polymath. This means he was good at many different things. He was also a polyglot, meaning he could speak many languages.
Music and Math
Pinkava was active in music. He composed (wrote) several pieces, including a Glagolitic Mass. He also worked in mathematical logic. He even discovered a special type of logic called many-valued logic, which is named after him.
Amazing Writing Projects
Pinkava loved to set big goals for himself. For example, he translated a complex set of poems about Prague by Jaroslav Seifert. He also published a collection of his own poems in seven different languages!
Perhaps his most amazing achievement was ΑΣΤΡΟΝΑΥΤΙΛΙΑ Hvězdoplavba. This was a very long science fiction epic poem. It was 6,575 lines long! He wrote it in ancient Homeric Greek and also translated it into Czech. This incredible book was published shortly after he passed away.
Only his first novel, "GraveLarks," has been translated into English. It was published in 1999 and again in 2015.
His Family
Jan Křesadlo was the father of film director Jan Pinkava. His son won an Oscar in 1998 for his animated short film, Geri's Game. Jan Pinkava also helped illustrate his father's novel, "GraveLarks."
