Bohumil Hrabal

Bohumil Hrabal
Portrait of Bohumil Hrabal taken in 1988
Born	Bohumil František Kylián (1914-03-28)28 March 1914 Brno, Austria-Hungary
Died	3 February 1997(1997-02-03) (aged 82) Prague, Czech Republic
Resting place	Hradištko
Occupation	Writer
Ethnicity	Czech
Alma mater	Charles University, Prague
Period	1948–1998
Notable works	Pábitelé Ostře sledované vlaky Postřižiny Slavnosti sněženek Obsluhoval jsem anglického krále

Bohumil Hrabal (Czech pronunciation: [ˈboɦumɪl ˈɦrabal]; 28 March 1914 – 3 February 1997) was a Czech writer, regarded by many Czechs as one of the best writers of the 20th century.

Hrabal was born in the city of Brno on 28 March 1914, in what was then the province of Moravia within Austria-Hungary, to an unmarried mother, Marie Božena Kiliánová (1894–1970). According to the organisers of a 2009 Hrabal exhibition in Brno, his biological father was probably Bohumil Blecha (1893–1970), a teacher's son a year older than Marie, who was her friend from the neighbourhood. Marie’s parents opposed the idea of their daughter marrying Blecha, as he was about to serve in the Austro-Hungarian Army. Four months after Hrabal's birth World War I started, and Blecha was sent to the Italian front, before being invalided out of service. Blecha’s daughter, Drahomíra Blechová-Kalvodová, says her father told her when she was 18 that Hrabal was her half-brother. Bohumil and his biological father never met formally, according to Blechová-Kalvodová. Hrabal and Blechová-Kalvodová met twice; a dedication in a picture from 1994 says: "To sister Drahomíra, Hrabal!"

Hrabal was baptised Bohumil František Kilián. Until the age of three, he lived mainly with his grandparents, Kateřina Kiliánová (born Bartlová)(d. 1950)[1] and Tomáš Kilián (d. 1925, a descendant of a French soldier injured at the battle of Austerlitz, on the outskirts of Brno), in Brno while his mother worked in Polná as an assistant book-keeper in the town's brewery. She worked there with her future husband, František Hrabal (b. 1889-d. 5 June 1966); one František Hrabal was listed as Bohumil's godfather when he was baptised on 4 February 1914, but František was also the first name of Bohumil's future step-grandfather, a soft-drinks trader. František Hrabal, Hrabal’s stepfather, was a friend of Hrabal’s probable biological father, according to Blechová-Kalvodová.

Marie and František married in February 1917, shortly before Bohumil's second birthday. Hrabal's half-brother, Břetislav Josef Hrabal, was born later that year (b. 25 September 1916-d. 30 May 1985); Břetislav (Slávek) is said to have been an excellent raconteur[2]. The family moved in August 1919 to Nymburk, a small town on the banks of the Labe (Elbe), where František Hrabal became the brewery's manager [3]. Both of Hrabal's parents were active in amateur dramatics.