Ladislav Quis

Ladislav Quis; portrait by
Jan Vilímek (1884)

Ladislav Quis (7 February 1846 in Čáslav – 1 September 1913 in Černošice) was a Czech writer, poet, lawyer, journalist, translator and critic; associated with the literary group, Ruchovci.

Biography

He was born to the city physician, Ignác Quis, and his wife Veronika, née Matieková. His education began at a grammar school in Prague, then continued at the gymnasium in Tábor, during the time its Director was the well known Czech patriot, Václav Křížek.

At this time, he was already engaged in literary activities; creating a literary association (Slavoj), and a magazine (Lužnice). In 1865, he published his first poems and short stories in Tábor (a local magazine that was published until 1941). After graduating, he returned to Prague to study law, and received his doctorate in 1874.

In 1872, he began work as an editor at the magazine, Slovan, replacing Karel Sabina, who went into hiding, under suspicion of being a police informant. There, he mainly wrote literary articles and feuilletons. After a relatively short time, he left to join the newspaper, Národních listů. He was eventually forced to give up journalism, due to an eye disease. After 1881, he worked as a lawyer in Čáslav then, in 1884, moved to Přelouč, where he settled and started a practice.

He established a good reputation there, and was involved in many civic projects, including a library (1902) and a new evangelical church, with an impressive tower (1905). In 1901, he was elected an "extraordinary member" of the Česká akademie věd a umění (Czech Academy of Sciences and Arts).

Over the course of his career, he contributed to numerous magazines, including Květy, Lumír, Paleček, and Humoristické listy. He also provided articles for several almanacs.

Memorial plaque in Čáslav

Further reading

• Jiří Opelík, Lexikon české literatury : osobnosti, díla, instituce, Academia, Prague, 2000 ISBN 80-200-0708-3
• Josef Tomeš, Český biografický slovník XX. století, Paseka; Petr Meissner, Prague, 1999 ISBN 80-7185-247-3

External links

• "Za Ladislavem Quisem" (obituary) from Zlatá Praha @ Ústav pro českou literaturu
• Works relating to Quis @ the National Library of the Czech Republic
• Works and translations by Quis @ Kramerius