Miroslav Bedřich Böhnel

Miroslav Böhnel was the author of numerous novels of social and student life, which at that time were very popular and attracted much attention, because he especially focused on sexual issues. He was also a playwright and publicist. His entry for the 1932 Olympic art Competitions was the novel Finish: A student’s sporting novel, published in 1931. The book was the third part of a secondary school tetralogy. It’s about a student’s relationship with a sports club in a Prague suburb and the problems in that club.

Böhnel’s father died when he was just ten years old, and the family moved from Brno to Praha. Miroslav studied history and geography at the Faculty of Philosophy at Prague. After his graduation in 1910, he worked as a teacher at various schools in the region. In 1920, he received his PhD while he was employed as a professor at the National Grammar School in Vinohrady/Praha. Most of his novels, and short stories, were written between 1920-36. He was also active as a newspaper editor. In 1941 the Nazis forced him to retire. During World War II, he nevertheless continued to write novels. In 1945, he was re-activated and worked again as a teacher for a few years. In 1948, Böhnel went to Děčín on behalf of the Czechoslovakian Writers’ Association and was instrumental for establishing a museum for the Bohemian art historian and founder of the Sokol movement.