Josef Kainar

Josef Kainar (29 June 1917 in Přerov, Austria-Hungary – 16 November 1971 in Dobříš, Czechoslovakia) was a Czech poet, lyrics writer, dramatic author and translator, but also a musician, illustrator, artist and journalist. He was a member of artistic group Skupina 42 and literary group Ohnice. Josef studied Czech and French languages at Charles University in Prague between 1938 and 1939. After the closure of colleges during World War II he undertook several jobs. He worked as a script editor in Divadlo satiry. He also worked as a journalist; his jokes, images and poetry were published in the newspaper Rovnost. After the war he worked in radio, movies and the theater. For example, he created a so-called ″rozhlásky″ for the Czechoslovak Radio; this was news for younger listeners. After 1947 he devoted himself fully to literature.

He was also musically talented; he played in concerts on piano, guitar and violin. His style was based above all in jazz and he even mentions it in his poems.

His resting place is Vyšehrad cemetery.

In 2007 a high school was named in his memory in the town of Hlučín, where he studied.