Václav Kliment Klicpera

Václav Kliment Klicpera studied at Charles University. Václav Bělský is recorded as having studied under Václav Kliment Klicpera. The recorded working language is Czech. Places of work recorded in the authority are Hradec Králové and Prague. Positions recorded include head teacher. Distinctions recorded are honorary citizen of Hradec Králové.

• Name — Václav Kliment Klicpera • Born — 23 November 1792 • Birthplace — Chlumec nad Cidlinou, Bohemia • Died — 15 September 1859 • Place of death — Prague, Bohemia, Austrian Empire • Resting Place — Olšany Cemetery, Prague • Occupation — Playwright • Notable Works — Divotvorný klobouk Hadrián z Římsů

• Illustration — Klicpera' grave at the Olšany Cemetery Václav Klement Klicpera was born on 23 November 1792 in Chlumec nad Cidlinou. Later he started writing Kliment as his middle name. He first began to learn to be a tailor, like his father, and then a butcher, but due to health reasons he ended his apprenticeship in 1808 and began studying at a gymnasium in Prague. From 1813, he was part of an amateur troupe, where he met Anna Švamberková, which he married in 1819. After graduating from the gymnasium in 1813, he studied philosophy until 1816 and medicine until 1818. He then studied humanities and among his teachers were Josef Jungmann and Josef Dobrovský. From 1819, he was a teacher at the gymnasium in Hradec Králové. His students included František Škroup, Josef Kajetán Tyl and Karel Jaromír Erben. He and his older brother František became involved in the patriotic movement. Václav Kliment Klicpera made his debut as a playwright in March 1816 with the successful play Blaník, played in the Estates Theatre. He collaborated with amateur troupes as an organiser, author, director, and until 1823 as an actor. At his own expense, he published Czech-language plays (Klicpera's theatre – Almanac of dramatic plays) that contributed to the development of Czech amateur theatre. From the 1820s, his plays were regularly played at the Estates Theatre, but they were edited for a German-speaking audience, which for a time discouraged him from publishing further plays. The turning point came in 1835, when the Josef Kajetán Tyl Theatre Group was founded (performing in the Estate Theatre). After the death of his first wife, he married a second time in 1838 to Anna Trnková (1814–1900). In 1842, he became temporarily deaf as a result of an illness. In 1846, he left Hradec Králové, moved to Prague and started to teach at the Academic Gymnasium in Prague. Among his students were Vítězslav Hálek, Jan Neruda and Josef Václav Frič. In 1850, he became director of the Academic Gymnasium, which became the first Czech-language gymnasium during his management. In Prague, Klicpera also worked as a politician and actively participated in the revolutionary events of 1848. Due to his participation in them and for allowing an unauthorised student magazine to be published at his school, he was forced to retire early in 1853. He did not create any other work after that. Klicpera died on 15 September 1859 in Prague. He is buried at the city's Olšany Cemetery.

• Illustration — Hadrián z Římsů, played in J. K. Tyl Theatre in Plzeň in 1949 Klicpera wrote 57 plays, basically all of them original. He wrote most often comedies (21 works). Some of his plays have not survived and are only mentioned in the contemporary press or in the manuscripts of his descendants. He was skilled in writing vaudeville plays and patriotically-themed historical dramas that became the foundation of modern Czech drama. He is also recognised for his farces (in Czech frašky). He also wrote historical romance stories, plays from his own era, and plays with fairy tale motifs. In the 1840s, he specialised in so-called "knight dramas", where he used guises and changed the identity of characters. His notable plays include: • Divotvorný klobouk, 1820 • Hadrián z Římsů, 1821 • Rohovín Čtverrohý, 1825 • Veselohra na mostě, 1826 • Každý něco pro vlast, before 1829 • Ján za chrta dán, 1829 • Zlý jelen, 1849 Klicpera was also a poet to a lesser extent. His best-known poetic work is Deklamovánky (1841), a collection of humorous verses for social entertainment with patriotic content.

Václav Kliment Klicpera is recorded as playwright, pedagogue, writer, poet and teacher.