Vladimír Franz (born 25 May 1959 in Prague, Czechoslovakia), is a Czech composer, painter,[1] university scholar and occasional journalist,[2][3][4][5] poet and playwright.

[6] The attention of local as well as world media has been attracted to him usually due to his extraordinarily extensive tattoos.

After his studies, he did not enter legal practice, but instead spent the 1980s in a variety of jobs, including as a high school teacher.

[9] In an interview for the TV NOVA, he commented:[10] The art of tattooing is accompanying mankind since time immemorial.

(...) My tattooing is result of a long-term sophisticated concept, not a sudden emotion.Franz is a six-time recipient of the Alfréd Radok Award:[11]