Vilém Mrštík | |
Birth Date: | 14 May 1863 |
Birth Place: | Jimramov, Moravia, Austrian Empire |
Death Place: | Diváky, Moravia, Austria-Hungary |
Resting Place: | Diváky |
Occupation: | Writer, dramatist |
Language: | Czech |
Nationality: | Austro-Hungarian |
Movement: | Naturalism, Realism |
Notableworks: | Maryša Santa Lucia |
Relatives: | Alois Mrštík, brother |
Vilém Mrštík (pronounced as /cs/; 14 May 1863 in Jimramov – 2 March 1912 in Diváky) was a Czech writer and dramatist.
He is known for his novel Santa Lucia (1893). With his brother, Alois (1861–1925) he also wrote the drama Maryša (1894). This play, set in rural Moravia, explored gender roles and tradition in a small village. In contrast to the more positive renderings of rural life by the writers of the National Revival, the brothers attempted a more impartial view of life in the countryside.
He is also famous for having fought against the mass destruction of historic buildings carried out as part of urban renewal plans for parts of Prague by publishing two influential essays: Manifest to the Czech People (1896), and Bestia triumphans in 1897.