Drda, Ian

The son of a worker. After the death of his mother, he was brought up by his grandmother. He graduated from high school and entered the philosophical faculty of Charles University in Prague (1934-1938). University did not graduate.

In 1932 it was published in the journal Studentský časopis. During his student years he was the editor of the university newspaper Rozbor.

Since 1937 he was associated with the newspaper Lidove Noviny , edited the department of culture, wrote reports , feuilletons , sketches . In 1948-1952 - the chief editor of the newspaper. He wrote several screenplays.

Member of the Czechoslovak Resistance Movement during the protectorate , and later - the uprising in Prague in 1945.

In 1945 he joined the Czechoslovak Communist Party . In 1949-1956 was the first secretary of the Union of Czechoslovak Writers. He was elected to the Legislative National Assembly of Czechoslovakia (1948-1954).

In 1968, he openly opposed the entry of troops of the Warsaw Pact countries into Czechoslovakia, for which he was fired from the post of editor of the weekly Svět práce and two years later he died in the creative house in Dobříš Castle.

Jan Drda, refers to the so-called young generation of Czech writers who began literary work during World War II.

In the first novel “Town in the palm of your hand” (“Městečko na dlani”, 1940), the author paints the life of a small town on the eve of the First World War, reveals the spiritual wealth of a working person. In the socio-psychological novel "Living Water" ("Živá voda", 1941), the difficult path of a young sculptor who left the public to the mastery of art is shown. In the novel “The Wanderings of Peter Semilgun” (“Putování Petra Sedmilháře”, 1943), the atmosphere of the fascist occupation regime is reflected in a fanciful interweaving of science fiction and reality.

In the post-war years, Drda created a series of stories about the heroic struggle of the Czech people against the invaders (the collection “The Mute Barricade” - “Němá barikáda”, 1946); a number of stories in this collection have been made into films.

The themes of popular resistance to the invaders and the building of socialism in Czechoslovakia are reflected in the storybook Red Tortiza (Krásná Tortiza, 1952). In dramaturgy, Drda continued the tradition of folk fairy-tale plays by J.K. Rear. In the play-tale "Jokes with the devil" ("Hrátky s čertem", 1946), which was staged in Russian processing (together with I. Shtok ) for puppet and other theaters called "Devil's Mill", the author glorifies humanity and courageous optimism of people from the people.

The comedy Romance o Oldřichu and Boženě (1953) is dedicated to the socialist reconstruction of the village. The satirical comedy Dalskabaty, the sinful village, or the Forgotten devil (Dalskabáty hříšná ves aneb Zapomenutý čert, 1960) in fabulous form conveys the victorious struggle of the people's camp against the “devilish world”, “money bag”. The result of a trip to Latin America was a book of travel essays, “Burning Land” (Horká půda, 1955).

The writer, who grew up on the basis of folk art, is characterized by a fantastic manner of writing, images of folk imagination, colorful poetic language, and juicy humor.

The journalism of Drda is represented by the books The World Observed Without Haste (Svět viděný zpomaloučka, 1943) and Letters from Nuremberg (Listy z Norimberka, 1946).

He also acted as a literary critic, propagandist of socialist realism.

• Jan Drda (Czech)