Hrubín, František

Born Sept. 17, 1910, in Prague; died Mar. 1, 1971, in Ceské Budëjovice. Czech poet. People’s Artist of Czechoslovakia (1966). Born into a peasant family.

Hrubin began publishing his poems in the early 1930’s. The first verse collections were primarily lyrical descriptions of nature. The period of German occupation and victory over fascism is reflected in the collections Bread and Steel (1945), The River of Unforgetableness (1946), and the narrative poem The Night of Job (1945). Antiwar fervor permeates the narrative poems Hiroshima (1948) and Metamorphosis (1956). Hrubin’s mastery of lyric poetry devoted to philosophical reflection and descriptions of nature is evident in the collections My Song (1956) and To the Limit of Love (1961). In his drama Sunday in August (1958) the egoistic morality of the philistines clashes with the humanism of men of good will. Hrubin also wrote a great deal for children.