Jan Snízek(1904-1971)

Jan Snizek Bio by Paul A. Snizek, son Jan Snizek was born December 28, 1904 in Praha (Prague), a son of Antonin and Emmanuela, nee Perova. Her was an engineer by training, a playwright by choice. Even though he had built numerous roads and bridges in the Czech Republic, he was always drawn to the stage. His very first play was "Pro Kazdeho Neco", (Something For Everyone), written in 1921. between 1922 and 1925 he had written seven plays and revues. In 1933, he co-authored a script for the movie "Reka", (The River). His first success was the play "Priklady Tahnou", (Examples Are Catching), in 1939. The play was produced in the National Theater, and also made into a movie and became very popular among amateur and professional groups. He opened his own theater on Prague's Vaclavske Namesti, (Wenceslaus Square), where he produced and directed his satires, "Rozmarne Zrcadlo", (Capricious Mirror), and "Nekonecny Trojuhelnik", (Eternal triangle), both very successful. In 1948 he settled in Paris as a political refugee. There he wrote "Certovo Kolo", (Devil's Wheel), his first book. In 1955 he migrated to the United States, where he established a theater group, called "Krajanske Divadlo", (Patriot's theater). Bozena Helclova-Snizkova, a former member of the national Theater in Prague, a screen actress (Mikolas Ales), and a member of Jan Snizek's cast in his Prague theater, was active in this effort as well. The group performed not only in New York City, but toured North America with performances in Washington, D.C., Boston, Toronto, and Montreal. "Krajanske Divadlo" performed not only Snizek's plays, but also plays written by classical Czech authors. Two other books he wrote were published in Canada, "Kdo Utece, Vyhraje", (He Who Runs Away, Wins), and "Co to je ...", (What is ...). Jan Snizek died following a lengthy illness on October 26, 1971.