Josef Knap

Who was Josef Knap?

Josef Knap was a Czech writer, poet and literary critic.

Born in Podůlší by Jičín, Knap studied at the Classical Grammar school until 1919. He graduated from the College of Philosophy at Charles University in Prague in 1924, with a degree in modern literature. During World War I and World War II, he traveled throughout Europe visiting countries including Germany, Sweden, Norway, Italy and France. From 1925 he worked in the theater department of the National Museum of Czechoslovakia. He stayed there until 1951, eventually becoming the museum's administrator. His time there was interrupted by the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia, which he spent in Arbeitsansatz.

Because of theological themes in his work, Knap became a victims of the political persecution of Catholic intellectuals by the Communist government in the 1950s. In 1952, he was condemned without any evidence to eleven years in prison, but was released early in 1955. After his release he worked as a building laborer, and later in the Memorial of National Literature. In the 1960s, he focused on the history of theater groups. Based on his work in this area, he published Umělcové na pouti in 1961.