Zdeněk Svěrák
Zdeněk Svěrák (born 28 March 1936) is a Czech actor, humorist, playwright and screenwriter. He is one of the most well-known and popular Czech cultural personalities. Since 1968 he has appeared in 32 films.
Also recorded as Zdenek Sverak
Zdeněk Svěrák

Jindřich Nosek (NoJin) · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Born
- 1936. · Prague.
- Nationality
- Czech Republic and Czechoslovakia.
- Occupation
- screenwriter, singer, songwriter, writer, playwright, poet, actor and teacher.
- Education
- Faculty of Education and Charles University.
- Teachers
- Václav Mejstřík.
- Honours
- Magnesia Litera Award for Best Screenplay, Magnesia Litera 2014, Miloslav Švandrlík Award, Czech Medal of Merit, 3rd class, honorary citizen of Prague and Thalia Awards.
- Languages
- Czech.
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Documentary summary
Zdeněk Svěrák (born 28 March 1936) is a Czech actor, humorist, playwright and screenwriter. He is one of the most well-known and popular Czech cultural personalities. Since 1968 he has appeared in 32 films.
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wikidata · Q169065 · wikipedia · Zdeněk Svěrák
In this article
Career
Career
Zdeněk Svěrák studied at Faculty of Education, Charles University. Training under Václav Mejstřík is recorded. The recorded working language is Czech. Distinctions recorded are Magnesia Litera Award for Best Screenplay, Magnesia Litera 2014, Miloslav Švandrlík Award and Czech Medal of Merit, 3rd class.
In 1958, he graduated in Czech language and literature from the Faculty of Education of Charles University in Prague. His work consists of more than 300 musical texts and plays, and he has appeared in 32 feature films. Among his film scripts are the Academy Award-winning Kolya and The Elementary School, both directed by his son Jan Svěrák as well as My Sweet Little Village. With his close friend Ladislav Smoljak and their radio colleague Jiří Šebánek, he created the fictional polymath Jára Cimrman for the radio programme Vinárna U pavouka in 1966. Cimrman was voted The Greatest Czech in 2005, but barred from winning because of being a fictional character. Zdeněk Svěrák also founded a charity organization, Centrum Paraple, which focuses on helping paralyzed individuals. Svěrák has won three Magnesia Litera awards for his writing. In 2004 he won the Readers' Choice award for his book Jaké je to asi v čudu. He went on to win the same award in 2012 for the book Nové povídky. His third Readers' Choice award came in 2014 for Po strništi bos. In 1989, he was a member of the jury at the 39th Berlin International Film Festival.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
Explore 1936–2016
The full dated record · 3 entries
1936
Zdeněk Svěrák born at Prague.
2014
Zdeněk Svěrák is recorded as having received Magnesia Litera Award for Best Screenplay, Magnesia Litera 2014 and Miloslav Švandrlík Award.
2016
Zdeněk Svěrák - Povídky a Nové povídky - Komplet (2016) (2016) is digitised and catalogued by Internet Archive.
Primary material
Documents and archives
scholarly publication
- Selling ‘Czechness’ abroad: images of Jan and Zdeněk Svěrák in promotion and reception of <i>Kolya</i>, Studies in Eastern European Cinema, 2021
Scholarly · Crossref registry · 2021
Institutional database
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q169065: Zdeněk Svěrák
Scholarly · Wikimedia Foundation
scholarly index
- OpenAlex author record A5060781643 for Zdeněk Svěrák.
General reference · OpenAlex
Honours
Medal of Merit, III Class (1999) Order of the White Lion, II Class (2025)

Zdeněk Svěrák, Czech actor and director
David Sedlecký

Zdeněk Svěrák (2016)
Jindřich Nosek (NoJin)
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.The 59th Academy Awards | 1987.
- 2.Prokopová, Alena. "It's Me and It Isn't" or Zdeněk Svěrák The Person. Filmový přehled. 24 March 2016.
- 3.Rudiš, Jaroslav. Ceny Magnesia Litera znají své držitele. Novinky.cz. Borgis. 4 April 2004.
- 4.Peňás, Jiří. Magnesia Litera: Ajvaz, autor knihy roku, je dobrá volba. Lidové noviny. Mafra. 4 April 2012. 1213-1385.
- 5.Kubíčková, Klára. Magnesii Literu vyhrál průvodce protektorátem, cenu má i Zdeněk Svěrák. iDNES.cz. Mafra. 8 April 2014.
- 6.Berlinale: 1989 Juries. berlinale.de.
- 7.Mafra. Prezident uděloval k svátku 28. října vyznamenání. iDNES.cz. 29 October 1999.
- 8.Dvořáček, Vojtěch. Státní vyznamenání: Ocenění od prezidenta převzali Svěrák, Řehka, Pojar i Geislerová. Czech Radio. 28 October 2025.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
scholarly publication
Selling ‘Czechness’ abroad: images of Jan and Zdeněk Svěrák in promotion and reception of <i>Kolya</i>, Studies in Eastern European Cinema, 2021Crossref registry
Institutional witnessInstitutional database
Wikidata, structured authority record Q169065: Zdeněk SvěrákWikimedia Foundation
Institutional witnessscholarly index
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
People, houses and institutions
Knowledge graph
People, houses and institutions
Teachers, collaborators, publishers and institutions recorded against this person, each on a stated basis.
Studied at
1- Charles UniversityOrganisation
Established from a fact already recorded on a verified source.
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Books
39,529 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Zdeněk MlynářAuthor
- Zdeněk NejedlýAuthor
- Zdeněk RotreklAuthor
- Zdeněk ŠtěpánekAuthor
- Zdenka BergrováAuthor
- Zdravka EvtimovaAuthor
- Ze'ev JabotinskyAuthor
- Ze'ev SchiffAuthor
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