Jindrich Mosna

Born Aug. 1, 1837, in Prague; died there May 6, 1911. Czech actor. One of the founders of the Czech realistic school of acting.

Mošna was the son of an artisan. While working at a factory in Vienna he became interested in the theater. From 1856 to 1859 he acted professionally, touring Austria with a traveling acting company. Beginning in 1860, Mošna acted in Czech provincial cities. In 1864 he began acting at the Temporary Theater in Prague, appearing in dramas, operas, and operettas.

After the opening of the Prague National Theater in 1883, Mošna worked there and was an active proponent of a realistic repertoire (he played Teterev in Gorky’s Smug Citizens and staged Gogol’s Marriage). Several Czech playwrights created special roles for Mošna, including Lízal in the Mrstík brothers’ Maryŝ, Divíŝek i Jirásek’s The Father, and Hruŝka in Jirásek’s Vojnarka. Democratic audiences considered Mošna their own actor and deeply experienced the truth of his art.