Viktor Dyk

Viktor Dyk
Photograph of Dyk, circa 1917
Born	(1877-12-31)31 December 1877 Pšovka u Mělníka, Kingdom of Bohemia, Austria-Hungary
Died	14 May 1931(1931-05-14) (aged 53) Lopud, Yugoslavia
Occupation	Poet, politician, playwright, prose writer, journalist
Literary movement	Czech nationalist

Viktor Dyk (Czech pronunciation: [ˈvɪktor ˈdɪk]) (31 December 1877 – 14 May 1931) was a nationalist Czech poet, prose writer, playwright, politician and political writer. He was sent to jail during the First World War for opposing the Austro-Hungarian empire. He was one of the signatories of the Manifesto of Czech writers. Dyk co-founded a political party and entered politics. He died at age 53, leaving his many poems, plays and writings.

Dyk was born in Pšovka u Mělníka in the Kingdom of Bohemia in 1877. His family moved to Prague in 1888 where he began to write. His family settled in the Prague suburb of Vinohrady in 1904 and that year he published a novel titled The End of Hackenschmid which was anti-Austrian. Dyk had taken part in the Czech Chess Championship the year before and he was to remain interested in the game for at least the next twenty years. He was most active in 1913 and seven of his games between 1903 and 1927 are recorded, but of these only one is a victory.

Viktor Dyk studied at a gymnasium in Prague (one of his teachers was Alois Jirásek). Dyk completed his education at Charles University in Prague where he achieved a degree in law. However law and politics were to dominate his life.

In 1911, he became involved in politics and joined the Státoprávně pokroková strana. He stood for office in the 1911 elections, but received just 205 votes in Vinohrady and placed fourth overall of five candidates.

Dyk together with Franz Kafka spoke of a "Great Wall" which, like the Great Wall of China or the Tower of Babel, became a metaphor for the cultural and linguistic division that they believed was required between Czech and Germanic culture. Dyk wrote in the magazine Lumin, where he was known to state that Bohemia had to become Czech or they should die in the attempt. On April 13, 1913 he composed a tirade in reply to an article published by Franz Werfel. Dyk stated that his group had not built the "Great Wall" as they were not opposed per se to German ideas, however they did see the dangers. Dyk saw no problem with communicating with Germans but he warned against "surrender" to ensure that they did not become "Czech speaking Germans".