Frantisek Halas Biography

František Halas (October 3, 1901, Brno – October 27, 1949, Prague) was one of the most significant Czech lyric poets of the 20th century, an essayist, and a translator.

Born as the son of textile worker, Halas worked as bookseller. He was self taught, without higher education. After 1921 he started publishing in the communist newspapers Rovnost and Sršatec, and in 1926 he became an editor at the Prague publishing house Orbis. During World War II he was active in the resistance movement, and after 1945 he was engaged at the Ministry of Information.