Jiří Grossmann
Jiří Grossmann was a Czech theatre actor, poet and composer.
Life
Grossmann was born in Prague. After his graduation, he started at the Czech Technical University in Prague, but left in 1962 when he met Miloslav Šimek in the Olympik bar. Grossmann performed with Dixie Party Band in the Olympik Theatre Club, playing on contrabass also. They immediately established a theatre double and started writing poems, short stories and stage plays. Their first theatre group was called Mlok. Grossmann and Šimek's most famous project was Navštěvní den, a theatre-styled show performed in theatre Semafor.The duo was persecuted after the Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1968 following the Prague Spring.
When Grossmann realized he was dying of Hodgkin lymphoma, he wrote one of his most sad lyrics called Závidím expressing fears of death. On 5 December 1971, Grossmann died in the hospital.
The Jiří Grossmann Theatre and Prague's Jiří Grossmann's Archway commemorate him today.
Books
Jiří Grossmann and Miroslav Šimek wrote together many short stories, which they read out as part of their performances. Their collections were also published as books, some only after Grossmann's death. The collections include:- Besídka zvláštní školy
- Besídka bývalých žáků zvláštní školy
- Povídky aneb nechci slevu zadarmo
- ''Povídky''