George (Jiří) Theiner (1926-88) was born in Czechoslovakia and came to London at the age of 11 to escape the Nazis. In 1945 he returned to Czechoslovakia, but his refusal to join the Communist party led to him being forced to work in the Silesian coalmines as part of a forced labour unit. After the Soviet invasion in 1968 he returned to England with his family and devoted his life to translating and promoting Czech literature. He worked as assistant editor of Index on Censorship and translated many great Czech writers, including Miroslav Holub and Václav Havel.
celebrating 50 years of Modern Poetry in Translation
Publication Date : 24 Mar 2016
