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Jaroslav Durych (2 December 1886 – 7 April 1962) was aCzech prose writer, poet, playwright, journalist, and militarysurgeon.
Durych was born inHradec Králové and was orphaned at an early age. He attended school at the Archbishop's convent inPříbram, but was expelled for reading forbidden literature. Later, he was able to attend medical school in Prague, thanks to a military scholarship, and graduated in 1913. After serving as a military doctor inGalicia during World War I, he established a private practice inPřerov. This proved to be an unsuccessful enterprise, however, and he returned to the Army; rising to the rank of Colonel. From 1923 to 1930, he served as the head of the military hospital nearOlomouc.
In 1935, he was elected to theCzech Academy of Arts and Sciences [cs], but resigned in 1938 following theAnschluss. Throughout theNazi occupation and the communist regime, he remained isolated and was able to publish only a few newspaper articles, written under pseudonyms.
Under the influence ofJosef Florian, he published his first novel,Bloudění [cs] (Wandering, 1929), an historical piece set in the time of theThirty Years' War, thenSlužebníci neužiteční (Roughly: Useless Servants), a novel aboutJesuit missionaries in 17th-century Japan, led byCharles Spinola. Only the first part could be published in Czechoslovakia, because Durych was silenced following theCommunist coup d'état in 1948. A full four volume edition was published in Rome in 1969.Bloudění was translated into English asDescent of the Idol and published in the United States in 1936.
Durych's Catholic viewpoint was often at odds with the prevailing intellectual climate in theCzechoslovak First Republic; notably his positive evaluation of the developments in Bohemia and baroque culture in general that followed theBattle of White Mountain. Durych felt that the loss suffered there byFrederick V of the Palatinate saved Bohemia from becoming a part of Germany. He was also the target of heavy criticism for supporting theFalangist side during theSpanish Civil War.
Durych died inPrague.
