Josef Václav Sládek

Josef Václav Sládek (27 October 1845 in Zbiroh – 28 June 1912 in Zbiroh)[1] was a Czech poet, journalist and translator, member of the literary group Lumírovci (cs:Lumírovci), pioneer of children's poetry in Czech lands.[2]

Josef Václav Sládek, painting by Jan Vilímek

In 1865, he graduated at the Academic Gymnasium in Prague.[1] In 1867, he became suspected by the Austro-Hungarian police of supporting the Czech opposition movement against the monarchy.[1] In 1868 he moved to United States,[3] where he spent two years working as a laborer. He was interested in the fate of indigenous peoples and blacks. He described his American experience in a collection of poems (titled Poems) and in one prose (American images). His stay in the USA influenced him significantly. Throughout the rest of his life he focused on translating Anglo-American literature. He translated 33 plays by William Shakespeare and other works by Burns, Longfellow, Hart, Byron, Coleridge etc.[4] Less known fact is that Sládek translated the Czech anthem Kde domov můj into English.[5][6]