Who was Josef Škvorecký?
Q: Who was Josef Škvorecký?
A: Josef Škvorecký was a Czech writer and publisher based in Canada who left Czechoslovakia after the Soviet invasion in 1968.
Q: When and where was he born?
A: He was born on September 27, 1924 at Nachod.
Q: What did he do during World War II?
A: During World War II, he worked in a factory making Messerschmitt airplanes.
Q: What did he study after the war?
A: After the war, he studied philosophy at Charles University in Prague.
Q: What kind of books did Skvorecky write?
A: Skvorecky wrote detective stories based on a character called Lieutenant Boruvka. His first novel, The Cowards (1958), was banned because it did not agree with the government about the communist resistance to the Nazis in the war. The book did not talk about heroism and sacrifice; instead its characters were interested in girls and jazz.
Q: Why did Skvorecky leave Czechoslovakia?
A: Skvorecky left Czechoslovakia after the Soviet Union invaded it in 1968. He had been offered a job at the University of Toronto so he moved there with his wife and set up their own publishing company which specialized in printing books by banned Czech writers.
Q: What awards has Skvorecky received for his work?
A:Skvorecky was awarded the Order of White Lion by Vaclav Havel in 1990, and appointed to the Order of Canada in 1992 for his work helping banned Czech writers have their books printed and smuggled back into their country
