Editing Michal Viewegh

{{Short description|Czech author}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2019}}
{{Infobox writer <!-- for more information see [[:Template:Infobox writer/doc]] -->
| name                      = Michal Viewegh
| image                     = Michal Viewegh, Brno.jpg
| image_size                = 
| alt                       = 
| caption                   = Michal Viewegh
| birth_date                = {{Birth date and age|df=y|1962|03|31}}
| birth_place               = [[Prague]], [[Czechoslovakia]]
| death_date                = 
| death_place               = 
| occupation                = Writer
| nationality               = [[Czech people|Czech]]
| ethnicity                 = 
| citizenship               = 
| education                 = [[pedagogy]]
| alma_mater                = [[Charles University]]
| genre                     = 
| subject                   = 
| movement                  = 
| notableworks              = ''Báječná léta pod psa''<br />''Výchova dívek v Čechách''<br />''Účastníci zájezdu''<br />''Román pro ženy''
| partner                   = 
| children                  = 3
| relatives                 = 
| signature                 = Michal Viewegh podpis.png
| signature_alt             = 
| website                   = {{URL|www.michalviewegh.com}}
}}
'''Michal Viewegh'''  is one of the most popular contemporary [[Czechs|Czech]] writers.

He is the most published Czech author of all time, with over a million books sold. In 1993 he earned the prestigious [[Jiří Orten Award|Jiří Orten award]] for Czech writers 30 years old or younger.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Vítězem Ceny Jiřího Ortena 1993 se stal|url=https://www.cenajirihoortena.cz/article/detail/39/|access-date=2020-11-24|website=Cenajirihoortena.cz|language=cs}}</ref>

Viewegh survived a [[traumatic aortic rupture]] in 2012.

== Life ==
Michal Viewegh was born in [[Prague]] on 31 March 1962.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Michal Viewegh|url=http://michalviewegh.com/p.php?stranka=1-zivotopis|access-date=2020-11-24|website=michalviewegh.com|archive-date=12 November 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221112115131/http://michalviewegh.com/p.php?stranka=1-zivotopis|url-status=dead}}</ref> His mother is a lawyer. His father was a chemical engineer, and then the mayor of [[Sázava (town)|Sázava]].

Viewegh graduated from Benešov Gymnazium in 1980.<ref name=":1" /> He studied economics at the [[Prague University of Economics and Business]], but dropped out. He then completed a degree in [[Czech language|Czech]] and in [[pedagogy]] at [[Charles University]] in the Philosophy department in 1988. While in school, Viewegh began publishing short stories in ''Mladá fronta'', with his first story published in 1983.

After graduating from university in 1988, Viewegh worked as an elementary school teacher until 1993. In 1993, he was awarded the Jiří Orten award for young Czech authors.<ref name=":0" /> For two years, he worked as an editor at the publishing company ''Český spisovatel''; after that, he was able to support himself  as a professional author.

Viewegh has been married twice, first to Jaroslava Macková, with whom he has one daughter, Michaela. In 2002, he married Veronika Vieweghová (née Kodytková). They have two daughters, Sára and Barbora. They divorced in 2015.

On 12 December 2012, Viewegh suffered a traumatic aorta rupture.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|title=Michal Viewegh|url=https://www.czechlit.cz/en/author/michal-viewegh-en/|access-date=2020-11-24|website=CzechLit|archive-date=12 November 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221112115136/https://www.czechlit.cz/en/author/michal-viewegh-en/|url-status=dead}}</ref> He suffered from [[Depression (mood)|depression]] and [[Amnesia|memory loss]] during his rehabilitation and was unable to write. However, it also helped him gain a new perspective on the relative importance of some of his problems before the accident. Viewegh said that when he thinks about the fact that 90% of people with a ruptured aorta do not survive, he does not worry about criticism, the [[Tabloid journalism|tabloids]], or politics anymore.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Coufalová|first=Martina|title=Zpátky do života|year=2014|pages=89}}</ref>

He has lived most of his life in Sázava, a village in central [[Bohemia]].<ref name=":1" />

== Works ==
Viewegh’s first book was the [[novella]] ''Názory na vraždu (Opinions on a Murder)'', published in 1990.<ref name=":2" /> His first full-length novel was ''Báječná léta pod psa (The Wonderful Years that Sucked)'', a semi-autobiographical novel which portrayed [[Czechoslovakia]] between the [[Prague Spring]] in 1968 and the [[Velvet Revolution|fall of communism]] in 1989. In 1997, it was adapted into a very successful film, directed by Petr Nikolaev.

Viewegh has published novels almost every spring since the late 1990s.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Michal Viewegh|url=http://michalviewegh.com/p.php?stranka=2-kariera|access-date=2020-11-24|website=michalviewegh.com|archive-date=12 November 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221112115135/http://michalviewegh.com/p.php?stranka=2-kariera|url-status=dead}}</ref> He sells around 50,000 copies per book and has sold over a million books total, making him the most published Czech author of all time. His works have been translated into 23 languages.<ref name=":2" /> His most famous works include ''Báječná léta pod psa, Výchova dívek v Čechách (Bringing Up Girls in Bohemia'', 1994), and ''Román pro ženy (A Novel for Women'', 2001).

In addition to novels, which make up the majority of his work, Viewegh has also published several other genres of literature.<ref name=":2" /> ''Nápady laskavého čtenáře (Thoughts of a Loving Reader'', 1993) and ''Nové nápady laskavého čtenáře (New Thoughts of a Loving Reader'', 2000) are both examples of literary parody, in which Viewegh parodies famous Czech and world authors.

Viewegh has also published collections of short stories. Additionally, he has published several [[Autobiography|autobiographical]] works, each capturing a small portion of his life in diary format. ''Můj život po životě (My Life After Life''), published in 2013, details his recovery from his ruptured aorta.<ref name=":2" />

Since the ruptured aorta, Viewegh has been much less prolific and successful as a writer. He still suffers from short-term memory loss, lack of directional awareness, and depression.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2012-12-10|title=Michal Viewegh měl vážný zdravotní problém. Praskla mu aorta|url=https://www.idnes.cz/kultura/literatura/michalu-vieweghovi-praskla-aorta.A121210_172722_literatura_ob|access-date=2020-11-24|website=iDNES.cz}}</ref> He publishes at a much slower rate than before the injury. The general consensus is that the quality of his writing has also declined; however, some argue that his works are less successful due to poor promotion from his publisher.

== Relationship with tabloid newspapers ==
For years, Viewegh has fought Czech tabloids in the court system, and criticized them publicly, accusing the tabloids of invading his privacy and of publishing false information about him. In 2009, Viewegh and actor [[Marek Vašut]] started a petition ''Vzkaz bulváru a výzva kolegům (A Message to the Tabloids and an Appeal to Colleagues)'' criticizing Czech tabloid tactics.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2012-03-19|title=Viewegh porazil bulvár. Kdo na lži vydělá, musí platit|url=https://zpravy.aktualne.cz/domaci/viewegh-porazil-bulvar-kdo-na-lzi-vydela-musi-platit/r~i:article:737727/|access-date=2020-11-24|website=Aktuálně.cz|language=cs}}</ref> Many influential artists, including actress [[Jiřina Bohdalová]], signed the petition.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2016-11-30|title=Vašut, Viewegh, Bohdalová a další vytáhli proti bulváru|url=http://tn.nova.cz/clanek/zpravy/domaci/vasut-viewegh-bohdalova-a-dalsi-vytahli-do-boje-s-bulvarem.html|access-date=2020-11-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161130184700/http://tn.nova.cz/clanek/zpravy/domaci/vasut-viewegh-bohdalova-a-dalsi-vytahli-do-boje-s-bulvarem.html|archive-date=30 November 2016}}</ref>

== Political Views ==
Viewegh’s 1992 novel ''Báječná léta pod psa'' uses humor to criticize conditions in Czechoslovakia under communism.

Viewegh was unhappy as a writer under communism, but likes the liberties of post-[[communist Czechoslovakia]] and the Czech Republic. Viewegh has said that "in the eighties I wrote two novels and neither of them were published. They were banned from being printed for the normal ideological reasons. After the revolution came absolute freedom. I was able to write just how I wanted, and to publish whatever I wanted."<ref>{{Cite web|date=2005-03-04|title=The Wonderful Years of Bumper Booksales: Michal Viewegh's enduring popularity|url=https://english.radio.cz/wonderful-years-bumper-booksales-michal-vieweghs-enduring-popularity-8096509|access-date=2020-11-24|website=Radio Prague International}}</ref>

Viewegh is also opposed to right-wing former Czech president [[Václav Klaus]]. This attitude is most notably displayed in his 2002 novel ''Báječná léta s Klausem (The Wonderful Years with Klaus)'', which is a loose continuation of ''Báječná léta pod psa''.{{fact|date=November 2023}}

==Scandals==
In his column for ''Lidové noviny'' (Czech newspaper and online news site) published on 1 October 2018, Viewegh criticised Christine Blasey Ford's allegations of sexual assault against Brett Kavanaugh on the grounds that "putting her in an empty room, groping her, covering her mouth while trying to undress her" was an "innocent high-school petting" and that he thanks God that he, as a pubescent, was free to grope his female schoolmates without endangering his future career, without any "North-American cow" complaining about it.<ref name="Lidovky.cz1">{{cite web |title=VIEWEGH: Děkuji, že jsem se narodil v zemi, kde jsem mohl na vrstevnice sáhnout |website=Lidovky.cz |url=https://www.lidovky.cz/lide/viewegh-ceska-suverenita.A180926_220316_lide_ele |date=1 October 2018}}</ref> He has been criticised in turn by criminologist Pavel Houdek in a published open letter, that his views are what makes victims of sexual abuse keep it to themselves. <ref name="Lidovky.cz2">{{cite web | title=Právník Houdek píše Vieweghovi: Přesně kvůli lidem, jako jste vy, oběti znásilnění mlčely |website=Lidovky.cz |url=https://www.lidovky.cz/nazory/pravnik-houdek-pise-vieweghovi-presne-kvuli-lidem-jako-jste-vy-obeti-znasilneni-mlcely.A181002_102800_ln_nazory_sk |date=2 October 2018}}</ref>  

==Bibliography==
* 1990. ''Názory na vraždu'' ("Opinions on a Murder")
* 1992. ''Báječná léta pod psa'' ("Bliss Was It In Bohemia") - humorous bestseller about the Communist era; adapted to film as ''[[Báječná léta pod psa|Those Wonderful Years That Sucked]]'' in 1997 (co-scripted by [[Jan Novák (writer)|Jan Novák]])
* 1993. ''Nápady laskavého čtenáře'' ("Thoughts of a Loving Reader") - collection of literary parodies
* 1994. ''[[Výchova dívek v Čechách]]'' ("Bringing Up Girls in Bohemia") - translated by A. G. Brain (pseudonym of Gerald Turner) in 1996, {{ISBN|1-887378-05-7}}; made into a film in 1997
* 1996. ''Účastníci zájezdu'' ("Tourists on an Excursion") - made into [[Účastníci zájezdu|a film]] in 2006, successful at [[Tribeca Film Festival]]
* 1998. ''[[Zapisovatelé otcovský lásky]]'' ("Notes on Fatherly Love")
* 1999. ''Povídky o manželství a sexu'' ("Tales of Marriage and Sex") - adapted to film as ''[[Shameless (2008 film)|Shameless]]'' in 2008 (co-written with Jan Hřebejk)
* 2000. ''Nové nápady laskavého čtenáře'' ("New Thoughts of a Loving Reader") - second collection of literary parodies
* 2001. ''Román pro ženy'' ("A Woman's Novel") - made into [[Román pro ženy|a film]] in 2005
* 2002. ''Báječná léta s Klausem'' ("Wonderful Years with Klaus") - loose sequel to the first Wonderful Years criticising [[Václav Klaus]] before the [[Czech legislative election, 2002]]
* 2003. ''[[The Case of Unfaithful Klara|Případ nevěrné Kláry]]'' ("The Case of Unfaithful Clara") - the [[The Case of Unfaithful Klara (film)|2009 film of the same name]] is loosely based on the novel
* 2004. ''Vybíjená'' ("Dodgeball")
* 2004. ''Tři v háji'' – with [[Halina Pawlowská]] and [[Iva Hercíková]]
* 2006. ''[[Lekce tvůrčího psaní]]'' ("The Creative Writing Lesson") - novella
* 2006. ''Báječný rok'' ("Wonderful Year") - a diary of 2005
* 2007. ''Andělé všedního dne'' ("Angels of the Everyday") - novella with experience about his father's death
* 2008. ''Román pro muže'' ("A Man's Novel")
* 2009. ''Něco na těch Vánocích být musí'' ("What's So Special About Christmas, Anyway?") - short story collection published in 2010 by Garamond (Czech/English parallel text)
* 2010. ''Biomanželka'' ("Eco-Wife")
* 2011. ''Mafie v Praze'' ("The Mafia in Prague")
* 2012. ''Mráz přichází z Hradu'' ("The Big Freeze from Prague Castle")
* 2013. ''Můj život po životě'' ("My Life After Life")
* 2015. ''Biomanžel'' ("Eco-Husband")

Collections of newspaper columns:
* ''Švédské stoly aneb Jací jsme'' (2000)
* ''Na dvou židlích'' (2004)

{{Commons category|Michal Viewegh}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{official website|http://www.viewegh.cz/}}
* [http://www.dbagency.cz/index.php?pg=authors&id=16 Michael Viewegh] at the Dana Blatná Literary Agency
* {{IMDb name|0896890}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130625012052/http://baila.net/autor/208841216/michal-viewegh Michal Viewegh] at Czechoslovak book network Baila.net

=== Works online in English ===
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20040923031146/http://www.pwf.pragonet.cz/1999/AutoriEn/Viewegh.htm Hooter](short story), with a photo and brief biography
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20051216173932/http://www.arts.gla.ac.uk/Slavonic/Viewegh.htm The Blissful Years of Lousy Living] - translated excerpt from ''Báječná léta pod psa''
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20010423073519/http://www.viewegh.cz/vieweghen.html Another Mournful Joke] - parody of [[Milan Kundera]]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Viewegh, Michal}}
[[Category:1962 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Czech male writers]]
[[Category:Writers from Prague]]
[[Category:Charles University alumni]]