Author. Immensely prolific, he had written over 1,000 short stories by the time he was 30. Conscripted into the Austrian Army in 1914, he spent most of World War I in Russian POW camps and after his release served as a commissar of the Red Army. Hasek's experiences were the basis for his monumental satire "The Good Soldier Svejk" (1923), about a lovable idiot who turns the crumbling Austrian Army upside-down with his naivete; it has been translated into 60 languages. Hasek planned the novel in six volumes but had completed only four before his death at 39 of heart disease.
Author. Immensely prolific, he had written over 1,000 short stories by the time he was 30. Conscripted into the Austrian Army in 1914, he spent most of World War I in Russian POW camps and after his release served as a commissar of the Red Army. Hasek's experiences were the basis for his monumental satire "The Good Soldier Svejk" (1923), about a lovable idiot who turns the crumbling Austrian Army upside-down with his naivete; it has been translated into 60 languages. Hasek planned the novel in six volumes but had completed only four before his death at 39 of heart disease.
Bio by: Bobb Edwards
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