Jan Neruda
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Jan Nepomuk Neruda (July 9, 1834 - August 22, 1891) was a Czech writer and poet, one of the most prominent representatives of Czech Realism and a member of "the May school".
Jan Neruda was born in Prague, Bohemia, son of a small grocer who lived in the Malá Strana (Lesser Quarter) district of Prague. After studying philosophy and philology, he worked as a teacher until 1860, when he became a freelance journalist and writer. Neruda never married but had a close relationship to the writer Karolína Světlá.
In his work Neruda promoted the idea of rebirth of Czech patriotism. He participated in all the central cultural and political struggles of his generation, and gained a reputation as a sensitive critic. Neruda became with Vítězslav Hálek the most prominent representative of the new literary trends.
Neruda was known for his satirical depiction of the petty bourgeois of Prague. His most popular prose work is "Povídky malostranské" (1877, Tales of the Little Quarter), a collection of short stories, which was translated into English in 1957 by the novelist and mystery writer Ellis Peters. Neruda's stories take the reader to the Lesser Quarter, to its streets and yards, shops, churches, houses, and restaurants.
He passed away in 1891 and was interred in the Vyšehrad cemetery in Prague. After his death, one of the streets in Little Quarter (Ostruhová Street well known from his books), now Nerudova ulice (Neruda Street), was named after him.
The Chilean poet Neftalí Ricardo Reyes Basoalto (Pablo Neruda), Nobel Prize in Literature 1971, took his pseudonym after Jan Neruda.
Principal works
- Hřbitovní kvítí, 1857 - Cemetery Flowers
- Knihy veršů, 1867 - Books of Verses
- Zpěvy páteční, 1869 - Friday Songs
- Povídky malostranské, 1877 - Tales of the Little Quarter, ISBN 0837193443
- Písně kosmické, 1878 - Cosmic Songs
- Balady a romance, 1878-83 - Ballads and Romances
- Prosté motivy, 1883 - Plain Themes / Simple Motifscs:Jan Neruda