Eduard Petiška

This book, probably the most famous of Petiška's works, was written when he did not believe that the communist regime would ever allow him to write for adults again. He conceived it as a "novel about life in Bohemia" – about Czech hopes and despairs, the gods representing particular political ideologies or attitudes. This archetypal narration is probably the reason the book is a worldwide success. It is not merely a simple retelling of ancient myths – it is a compact account of human life and character. This message is understandable in all the many languages it has been translated into (including German, English, Italian, Dutch, Russian, Hungarian, Estonian and Slovenian). In France it had been published twenty five times by 2011, and was part of school literature curriculums.

The ninety literary works which he left behind remain alive; they are published repeatedly and have been translated into many languages including Chinese, Japanese, Arabic and Vietnamese. A comprehensive bibliography of his work (both original and translated), edited by Věra Vladyková, was published in 1999.

Petiška's works were granted many awards after the Velvet Revolution, including the Platinum Award, the Rudolf II Award, and the Franz Kafka Medal. In 1997 an asteroid was named after him.

Eduard Petiška died suddenly (in the manner he had anticipated in his poem "How a Poet Would Like to Die") during his annual stay at the health resort of Mariánské Lázně on 6 June 1987. A plaque with his portrait created by Reon Argondian has been placed on the house at 5, Karlovarská Street, where he stayed in Mariánské Lázně.

Petiška had many friends in artistic circles; he associated especially with people who, like himself, were marginalized during the 1950s. These included writers Jaroslav Seifert, František Hrubín, Bohumil Hrabal and Emanuel Frynta; and artists Jiří Kolář, Kamil Lhoták, Zdeněk Miler, Karel Teissig, Vladimír Komárek, Zdeněk Sklenář, Vilém Plocek who illustrated his books, Cyril Bouda and Helena Zmatlíková.

An unofficial club originated in his apartment in Brandýs during the 1950s – it served as a meeting place for his friends where they could read their writings and discuss innovations in the world of arts.

During the 1950s, when he was banned from publishing books for adults, Petiška started writing stories for children and youth instead. He became known throughout the world for his children's books, including About the Little Apple Tree, About Children and Animals, Fairytale Grandfather, How the Mole Came to his Pants, Mole and the Car, Birliban, Ancient Greek Myths and Legends, and Tales of a Thousand and One Nights.

These activities were suddenly disrupted after February 1948. He married Alena, a teacher from an old family of teachers, in the same year (at the age of 24). His wife was a great support to him during his whole life, creating a harmonious home in which Petiška's work could flourish. She wrote memoirs about her life, which are freely available on Wikimedia Commons (here).

After 1945 he studied Comparative Literature and Germanics, but attended other classes as well, including aesthetics and medicine. After the liberation he immediately involved himself in cultural life, at first (while still a student) as a poet. He started publishing prose and poetry, wrote articles for newspapers and children's magazines, was active in Umělecká beseda (an artists' union), and worked in film and radio. He was also an active member of the Czech Writers Syndicate (Syndikát českých spisovatelů). He planned to shoot "film poetry" (a sort of predecessor of today's video clips) with Konstantin Biebl.

Eduard Petiška (14 May 1924 – 6 June 1987) was a Czech poet, translator, playwright and novelist, the author of many books for children and young people, and a translator and theorist of children's literature. He wrote over ninety books, which were translated to dozens of languages.

Petiška was born in Prague on 14 May 1924 into a family with a rich cultural heritage. His father, František Petiška, was a passionate reader. From early childhood he spoke two languages – Czech and German – and this later enabled him to work as a translator during the years in which he was prohibited from publishing. He shared his love of books with his classmate Jaroslav Hašek, who sat next to him. Hašek later used Petiška's name in his own writings. He worked at an insurance company with Franz Kafka, and was among the first audience for Kafka's writings.