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Jan Drda (April 4, 1915, Příbram – November 28, 1970, Dobříš) was a Czech journalist, politician, prose writer, dramatist, film screenwriter and author of modern fairytales. He was also the Czech State Prize Laureate in (1949 and 1953), and he was a nominee in 1965.
Jan Drda was born in Příbram and was the son of a laborer and organizational founder. In 1921, he lost his mother during the birth of his second sibling. When his parents divorced, his father became an alcoholic and abandoned the children. Their grandfather educated Jan Drda and Drda’s sister Marie. In 1934, Drda graduated from Prague Charles University with a degree in philosophy.
From a young age, he wrote tales and dramatic plays for Ochotnické dDivadlo. However, from 1932, he began contributing to newspapers and magazines. Between 1937 and 1942, Drda was an editor of Lidové noviny in which he contributed feuilletons (serials) and reporting. He was a member of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia from 1945, where he made several foreign trips, including to South America.
Prior to joining the Communist Party, he had an affinity towards the party before the Second World War and said that it would be necessary to block some writers who were against Communists. After February 1948, he held important cultural and political positions and was elected to the National Assembly for the Communist Party of the Czechoslovak Republic in the election district of Prague. In 1955, he received the Order of the Republic. He was in the Parliament till 1960. From 1949 to 1956, he was Chairman of the communist-controlled Union of Czechoslovak Writers. Jan Drda and Václav Řezáč were against Catholic-oriented and Catholicism-inclined authors, such as, Jakub Deml, Jan Zahradníček, Václav Renč or Bohuslav Reynek. The pair, Drda and Řezáč, had a derisive nickname “Drzáč” at that time.
His collaboration in film was very significant, as both a screenwriter and story author. He is credited on more than 20 films for writing. His screenplay of A Higher Principle (Czech: Vyšší princip) in 1960, based on one of his short stories in Silent Barricade (Czech: Němá barikáda), was awarded the FIPRESCI Prize at the IFF Locarno (International Federation of Film Critics)
In the last years of his life, he was the Editor-in-Chief of the Svět práce (The World of Work), which he founded in 1968. Due to his condemnation the invasion of the Warsaw Pact troops and the occupation of Czechoslovakia that followed, he lost this position and was expelled from the Communist Party. He died on November 28, 1970 in Dobříš and was buried at a local cemetery. His funeral was attended by about two thousand people.
Prose
Městečko na dlani, 1940- in this book is depicted the life of people from the small city named Rukapáň (in fact, the author`s city where he borned- Příbram), close before First World War, the happy and sad fates of the city and individual residents
Živá voda, 1942- a novel about the life of a rural boy, who was artistically based in post-war years
Putování Petra Sedmilháře, 1943- a novel about story of illegitimate boy, now orphan and floater, who is looking for his unknown father and inventing fantastic stories about him
Svět viděný zpomaloučka, 1943- book edition of the committee from his work for Lidové noviny
Listy z Norimberka, 1946- book of the feuilleurs, the theme is the Nuremberg process
Němá barikáda (Silent Barricade), 1946, it is a set of 14 short stories, it is about Second World War (including Prague May Uprising and Liberation), first prosaic rendition of Second World War in literature, this book belongs to the most popular Drda`s works
Kuřák dýmky, 1948
Dětství soudruha Stalina, 1953- a biographical feature about Stalin's life until his 16 years of age
Krásná Tortiza, 1952- collection of short stories (State prize for the year 1853)
Jednou v Máji, 1958- a novel for youth about the defense of the Troja Bridge, when was the May Uprising
České pohádky, 1959- 12 folk tales with illustrations by Josef Lada
Posvícení v Tramtárii, 1972- 3 fairy tales, last author`s work, the motif of the incapable old king and a more reasonable successor
České lidové hádanky v podání Jana Drdy: pro čtenáře od 6 let, 1984
Nedaleko Rukapáně, 1989- a selection of author's short stories, which were posthumously published
Milostenky nemilostivé, 1995- a collection of essays between the dates of 1939-1940.
Dramatic creation
Magdalenka, 1941- one-act comedy
Jakož i my odpouštíme, 1941- a play about three talks
Romance o Oldřichu a Boženě, 1953- comedy with a period of time - love story of Oldřich combine harvester and Božena harvester
Hrátky s čertem (Playing with the Devil), 1946- is a 1945 Czech fairy-tale comedy play by playwright Jan Drda. It was adapted into a 1956 film directed by Josef Mach starring popular actor Josef Bek, with animated decorations by Josef Lada. In 1979, another film adaptation was made in Poland, which is the one most memorable in European culture and continues to make this play popular. It was directed by Tadeusz Lis and starred well-known Polish actors Janusz Gajos, Jerzy Kamas, Marian Kociniak, Marek Kondrat.
Dalskabáty, hříšná ves aneb Zapomenutý čert, 1960- comedy about 8 pictures, the iproved devil becomes a human and helps to reveal the devil dressed as a parish priest, in year 1976 Jaroslav Novotný made it as a television film under the same name
Jsou živí, zpívají, 1961- it is about the May Uprising too
Film scenarios and themes
Druhá směna, 1940 – topic
Městečko na dlani, 1942 – topic, it was not filmed in Příbram, but in Ronov nad Doubravou
Děvčica z Beskyd, 1944 – script
Znamení kotvy, 1947 – topic and script, it is psychological and romantic film
Němá barikáda, 1949 – topic and script (In 1949 Drda was awarded the State Prize for the topic), it is a 1949 Czechoslovak war film directed by Otakar Vávra, about the defense of Prague against the Nazis' "scorched earth" efforts at the end of World War II. It was never shown in any English-speaking country, so had no English language title (such as "Silent Barricade", a literal title translation only).
Hrátky s čertem, 1956 – topic and script
Dařbuján a Pandrhola, 1959 – topic and script, it is a 1960 Czech fantasy film directed by Martin Frič
Vyšší princip, 1960 – topic and script, it is a Czech drama film based on the eponymous short story from the book Silent Barricade (Czech: Němá barikáda) written by Jan Drda in 1946. The story, taking place during the Nazi occupation, is about relationship between students and their elderly teacher of Latin nicknamed "Higher Principle" for his frequent quotation of Seneca's moral precepts. After three of their classmates are killed by Nazis during the murderous hysteria following the assassination of general Heydrich (just because they made fun of Heydrich), the teacher risks his own life but gains the respect of all students declaring that: From the standpoint of higher principles the killing of a tyrant is not a crime!
Zlaté kapradí (Golden Fern), 1963 – topic, this film is a ballad about love, loyalty and betrayal, it intermingles here real world of people with a fairytale forest fairy, the guardian of the most precious forest treasure- the golden fern
O princezně Jasněnce a létajícím ševci, 1987 – topic, it is a 1987 Czechoslovak fantasy film directed by Zdeněk Troška and starring Michaela Kuklová and Jan Potměšil. It is based on a fairy tale by Czech writer Jan Drda.The film was shot in castles in Bohemia and Moravia. In later years, it has been screened in film festivals and is recalled as a classic by the national broadcaster TV Nova.
