Josef Čapek (Czech pronunciation:[ˈjozɛfˈtʃapɛk]; 23 March 1887 – April 1945[1]) was a Czech artist who was best known as a painter, but who was also noted as a writer and a poet. He invented the word "robot", which was introduced into literature by his brother, Karel Čapek.
Life
Čapek was born in Hronov, Bohemia (Austria-Hungary, later Czechoslovakia, now the Czech Republic) in 1887. First a painter of the Cubist school, he later developed his own playful, minimalist style. He collaborated with his brother Karel on a number of plays and short stories; on his own, he wrote the utopian play Land of Many Names and several novels, as well as critical essays in which he argued for the art of the unconscious, of children, and of 'savages'. He was named by his brother as the true inventor of the term robot.[2][3] As a cartoonist, he worked for Lidové Noviny, a newspaper based in Prague.
His illustrated stories Povídání o Pejskovi a Kočičce (English translation as The Adventures of Puss and Pup[4]) are considered classics of Czech children's literature.
Ivan Margolius, 'The Robot of Prague', Newsletter, The Friends of Czech Heritage no. 17, Autumn 2017, pp. 3 – 6. https://czechfriends.net/images/RobotsMargoliusJul2017.pdf
Marie Šulcová. Čapci, Ladění pro dvě struny, Poločas nadějí, Brána věčnosti, Praha: Melantrich 1993-98
Marie Šulcová. Prodloužený čas Josefa Čapka, Praha: Paseka 2000
References
^Věra Menclová; Václav Vaněk, eds. (2005). Slovník českých spisovatelů (in Czech). Prague: Libri. pp. 111–113. ISBN 80-7277-179-5.
^Karel Capek – Who did actually invent the word "robot" and what does it mean? at capek.misto.cz [dead link] | archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20120204135259/http://capek.misto.cz/english/robot.html
^Robotics and automation handbook
^Čapek, Josef (1975). Harum Scarum: the adventures of Puss and Pup. London, UK: Carousel Books. ISBN 0-552-52054-3.
^Jarmila Čapková, Vzpomínky, Torst, Praha 1998, s. 331.
^"Pejsek a kočička mají ještě autorská práva chráněna, Mein Kampf je volný". 8 January 2016.