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Jan Kantůrek

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Kantůrek in 2006
Kantůrek in 2006
BornJan Kantůrek
(1948-05-04)May 4, 1948
Zlín, Czechoslovakia
(now Zlín, Czech Republic)
DiedMarch 22, 2018(2018-03-22) (aged 69)
Prague, Czech Republic
OccupationTranslator, writer
LanguageCzech
NationalityCzech
GenresFantasy, science fiction
Years active1975–2018

Jan Kantůrek (4 May 1948[1] – 22 March 2018)[2] was a Czech translator of fantasy, science fiction, comics and westerns from English.[3] His most known translations are Discworld by Terry Pratchett and books about Conan the Barbarian by Robert E. Howard and his successors.

Life

He was married with two children and lived in Prague.[1] Between 1975–1990, Kantůrek worked as a copy editor in the Artia publishing house. From 1990 to 1992 he worked as a director of marketing department in the Aventinum publishing house. Since 1992 he worked as a translator.[1][3]

In 1984 he co-re-established a fan club of Jules Verne, and started translating for its fanzines.[3] He was a comic collector and, according to his own words, he could read English but not speak it.[3]

He also performed as the Librarian in theatrical productions of Pratchett's books. He was awarded "Best Translator" by the Czech Academy of science fiction, fantasy and horrors in 1995, 1996, 1997, and 1999. Discworld was awarded "Best Book Series" in the same years. In 2003 he received an award for his lifetime work in science fiction by the Academy.[4]

References