Josef Václav Sládek

Josef Václav Sládek (27 October 1845 in Zbiroh – 28 June 1912 in Zbiroh)[1] was a Czech poet, journalist and translator, a member of the literary group Lumírovci [cs], and a pioneer of children's poetry in Czech lands.

[1] In 1867, he came to be suspected by the Austro-Hungarian police of supporting the Czech opposition movement against the monarchy.

He translated 33 plays by William Shakespeare and other works by Burns, Longfellow, Harte, Byron, Coleridge etc.

[4] A less well-known fact is that Sládek translated the Czech anthem Kde domov můj into English.

His poems were set to music by Karel Bendl and Josef Bohuslav Foerster.