Jiří Grossmann

Jiří Grossmann (20 July 1941 – 5 December 1971) was a Czechoslovak theatre actor, poet, and composer.

Life
Grossmann was born in Prague. After his graduation, he started at the technical university ČVUT, but left in 1962 when he met Miloslav Šimek in the Olympik bar. Grossmann performed with Dixie Party Band in the Olympik bar, playing on contrabass also. They immediately established a theatre double and started writing poems, short-stories and stageplays. Their first theatre group was called Mlok. Grossmann and Šimek's most famous project was Navštěvní dny, a theatre-styled show performed in theatre Semafor.



The duo was persecuted after the Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1968 following the Prague Spring.

When Grossmann realized he was dying of Hodgkin's lymphoma, he wrote one of his most sad lyrics called "Závidím (I Am Envious)" expressing fears of death. A few days before Christmas in 1971, Grossmann died in the hospital.

The Jiří Grossmann Theatre and Prague's Jiří Grossmann's Archway commemorate him today.

Related quotes
I don't believe that people who gave so much joy to so many people could die, as well as I don't believe that those who cannot give joy live...

Short stories
Bolded names represent book collections.