Václav Kliment Klicpera

Born Nov. 23, 1792, in Chlumec; died Sept. 15, 1859, in Prague. Czech dramatist, active in the Czech National Renaissance movement.

Klicpera was the son of a tailor. Between 1846 and 1859 he worked at the Prague Academic Gymnasium, first as a teacher and later as its principal. He wrote both prose works (on themes from his nation’s history) and romantic dramas, including Blanik (1813; published in 1820), Sobeslav (1824; published in 1826), and The Loket Bell (1825). These works show the influence of W. Scott and the tradition of knightly literature. His plays The Miraculous Hat (1817; published in 1820), Four Times a Cuckold (1821), and Something for the Homeland (1829) were the first attempt in Czech literature to create a comedy of manners with contemporaneous material. Close to farce, these plays mock the avidity and false patriotism of the petite bourgeoisie.