Ivan Stodola

Born Mar. 10, 1888, in Liptovský-Mikulás, now in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. Slovak writer and playwright.

A physician by profession, Stodola graduated from the faculty of medicine of the University of Budapest. He began his literary career in 1925. His plays of the late 1920’s and early 1930’s, which were a significant contribution to the formation of the Slovak professional theater, include Our Mr. Minister (1927), The Shepherd’s Wife (1928), Tea With Mr. Senator (1929; Russian translation, 1958), Jozko Púcik and His Career (1931), and The Banking Firm of Khuvich and Company (1936). Developing the satirical traditions of 19th-century Slovak literature, Stodola used his comedies to ridicule the obsequiousness and opportunism of the petite bourgeoisie and the narrowness of its ideals. At times he elevated his work to the level of social critique. A popular quality and a masterful flare for comedy are typical of Stodola’s realistic plays.

In the 1930’s, Stodola turned to national and patriotic themes, for example, in the historical tragedy King Svatopluk (1931) and the drama Marina Havranova (1942). In his comedies of the 1940’s, including When the Hero of the Day Cries (1940), he exposed the puppet regime in occupied Slovakia. In the postwar years he wrote the dramas The Poet and Death (1946) and Jan Pankrac (1958).