Bohumil Hrabal

Bohumil František Kilián (Known as "Hrabal")

Novelist, Short Story Writer, Chronicler of the Prague Pub Culture

Born 1914-03-28

Židenice, Brno, Austria-Hungary

Passed Away 1997-02-03 Prague, Czech Republic

Lifespan 82 years old

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Notice / Correction

"I was never an intellectual; I was only a chronicler of the wonderful nonsense that people babble over foaming beer."

Archival Overview

One of the greatest 20th-century European prose masters whose tragicomic masterpieces 'Closely Watched Trains' and 'I Served the King of England' celebrated the stream of ordinary human banter ('pábení').

Biographical Record

Bohumil Hrabal was born in Brno on March 28, 1914. Earning a doctorate in law, Hrabal worked as a railway clerk, insurance agent, steel-mill laborer in Kladno, and paper recycler, collecting the authentic oral lore and absurd eccentricities of ordinary Czech life.

His 1965 novella Closely Watched Trains (Ostře sledované vlaky) was adapted into an Oscar-winning film by Jiří Menzel. His dazzling novel Too Loud a Solitude (Příliš hlučná samota) stands as a monumental eulogy for censored books and human spirit. He died in 1997 after falling from a window at Bulovka Hospital.

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Rest in Peace Forever remembered and cherished Your legacy lives on in all of us With deep gratitude for your life and light

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Final Resting Place

Perpetual Memorial

Hradištko Forest Cemetery
Hradištko, Nymburk District, Czech Republic

                         GPS: 50.1700, 14.9450                    

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