Miloslav Švandrlík was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, in 1932. After finishing secondary school, Švandrlík took a number of jobs and also completed a two-year teaching course at a music college in Prague.[2] Subsequently in 1950, he obtained his matura diploma. Between 1951 and 1953, he studied at the Faculty of Theatre in Prague, but left after two years.
After completing his studies, Švandrlík became an assistant director at the Vesnické Theatre [cs] in Prague. He joined the Auxiliary Technical Unit of the Czechoslovakian army (compulsory at the time) in October 1953. He left in the winter of 1955, and worked as a teaching assistant for Korean children in Liběšice before becoming a professional writer. Most of his work was humorous and satirical, but he is also known for his science fiction and children's books.
One of his most famous books, titled Černí baroni(Černí Baroni aneb Válčili jsme za Čepičky), is based on stories from the time he served in the military service. It portrays the irony and absurdity of life under Communism. The novel was adapted to film in 1992 under the title Černí baroni.
Švandrlík contributed regularly to a number of magazines and newspapers, such as Dikobraz [cs] and also to theatre. In his written work, he often cooperated with Jiří Winter Neprakta, mostly coming up with texts for Winter's drafted jokes. He also wrote a number of screenplays and radio plays.
On 21 April 2010, a field bordered by Skřivanova, Lažanského, Švabinského, and 7. května streets in Chodov was named after the writer.[5] A bust of Švandrlík by Czech artist Miroslav Pangrác [cs] was unveiled there on 14 October 2010.[6]
Bibliography
Kdo je kdo : 91/92 : Česká republika, federální orgány ČSFR (in Czech). Vol. Part 2, N–Ž. Prague: Kdo je kdo. 1991. p. 987. ISBN80-901103-0-4.
Michael Třeštík, ed. (2005). Kdo je kdo = Who is who : osobnosti české současnosti : 5000 životopisů (in Czech) (5th ed.). Prague: Agentura Kdo je kdo. p. 666. ISBN80-902586-9-7.
