Jan Svit%C3%A1k

Jan Svitk was a Czech actor and film director. He was an important exponent of Czechoslovak film in the interwar period and during World War II. Svitk was murdered shortly after the liberation of Prague in 1945.

Svitk was born in Plze, where his father worked as a clerk for the koda Plze company. During World War I, he studied at the Naval School in Pula and joined the AustroHungarian Navy. He was a crewman on the battleship SMS Wien, which was sunk onDecember 1917. Svitk was not physically harmed in the catastrophe, and soon after, he was awarded the Bravery Medal but the sinking was a traumatic experience. It permanently marked his life, particularly his underlying attitudes and mental state. With the end of the War and the establishment of the Czechoslovak State, he devoted himself to theatre. He was engaged as an actor by travelling theatre companies, and went on perform in the theatres in Olomouc, Ostrava and Bratislava , and at the National Theatre in Prague. His performances drew positive responses. Several Austrian critics remarked his acting talents during his engagement in Vienna. In the 1930s, he was engaged by the theatre owned by the interwar Czechoslovak film and theatre star

Source: Wikipedia