Josef Svatopluk Machar
Josef Svatopluk Machar (; 1864 – 1942) was a Czech poet and essayist. A leader of the
realist movement in Czech poetry and a master of colloquial Czech, Machar was active in anti-
Austrian political circles in
Vienna. Many of his poems were satires of political and social conditions. In the poetic cycle ''The Conscience of the Ages'' (1901–1921), of which ''Golgotha'' was the initial volume, he contrasted antique with
Christian civilization, favoring the former. His ''
Magdalena'' (1893, translated into English by
Leo Wiener, 1916), a satirical novel in verse, concerns the treatment of women. Both Machar's use of colloquial diction and his skepticism greatly influenced Czech literature and public opinion. He was the father of
Sylva Macharová, one of the first Czech nurses and first head of the Czech School of Nursing.
He cooperated with T. G. Masaryk resistance organization
Maffie from December 1914.
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