Josef Skupa

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Josef Skupa on a mural ("Teatrum Mundi") in Pilsen
Sculpture by Skupas Spejbl and Hurvínek in Pilsen

Josef Skupa (born January 16, 1892 in Strakonice , † January 8, 1957 in Prague ) was a Czech puppeteer.

Life

Skupa studied at the Faculty of Applied Arts in Prague and worked, among other things, as a set designer in the Pilsen City Theater and as a designer at Škoda . After the First World War he founded the first and only professional Czechoslovak puppet theater . Between 1919 and 1926 he created his famous Spejbl and Hurvínek dolls . In 1920 Spejbl emerged as a naive, inflated and somewhat narrow-minded philistine. He quickly became the main character in the theater. In 1926 Gustav Nosek (1887–1974) carved the cheeky but bright son Hurvínek. In 1930 he opened the first modern puppet theater. Through the puppets, Skupa criticized the German occupiers with the help of satire . He was then arrested and transferred to the Gestapo prison in Dresden in 1944 . The Gestapo in Pilsen kept the puppets under lock and key. During the American air raid on Dresden , Skupa escaped from custody.

After the Second World War , the Spejbl and Hurvínek puppet theater was reopened and quickly became world famous. After Skupa's death, his wife Jiřina Skupova (1895–1970) continued the theater, Miloš Kirschner took over the management. Skupa co-founded the Union Internationale de la Marionnette and was its president from 1933 until his death.

Awards

  • In 1948 Josef Skupa received the Czechoslovak state award and title: "Národní umělec" from the ČSR (German: Artist of the Czechoslovak Nation ).

literature

  • Udo Bartsch and the collective of authors: entertainment art A – Z (=  pocket book of the arts ). Henschel, Berlin 1975, DNB  780117832 , p. 256 f .
  • Jan Brabec: Not just Spejbl and Hurvínek. History of the Czechoslovak Puppet Theater . In: Ernst Günther, Heinz P. Hofmann, Walter Rösler (eds.): Cassette. An almanac for the stage, podium and ring (=  cassette ). No. 4 . Henschelverlag Art and Society, Berlin 1980, p. 42-51 .

Web links

Commons : Josef Skupa  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ↑ After the Second World War, Josef Skuba was the 33rd artist in the order to receive this highest Czechoslovak state award for artists, which was founded in 1932 at the suggestion of then President Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk .
personal data
SURNAME Skupa, Josef
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Czech puppeteer
DATE OF BIRTH January 16, 1892
PLACE OF BIRTH Strakonice
DATE OF DEATH January 8, 1957
Place of death Prague