Eli Urbanová (8 February 1922 – 20 January 2012) was a Czech poet, novelist, and Esperantist. She is best known for her autobiographical novel Hetajro dancas.

Eli Urbanová
BornEliška Vrzáková
(1922-02-08)8 February 1922
Čáslav, Czechoslovakia
Died20 January 2012(2012-01-20) (aged 89)
Prague, Czech Republic
Language
  • Czech
  • Esperanto
SpouseŠtěpán Urban (1942–1955)

Biography

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Urbanová published her first story in the Czech language in 1935 when she was 13 years old, and her first book of poems, Zrcaldo, was published in 1940 under a pseudonym. In 1942, she married Štěpán Urban.[1] She learned Esperanto in 1948 and wrote her first Esperanto poem in 1950.[2] Urbanová worked as a music teacher in Czechoslovakia, teaching piano, violin, and violoncello.[3] In 1956, she was a co-founder of the Internacia Verkista Asocio.[2] She published her first book of Esperanto poems in 1960.[4]

Literary style

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Urbanová is considered to be one of the most important Esperantist writers.[5] Her work has been described as focusing on "the thoughts and feelings of the female soul" and making "even the most ordinary objects become symbols in her poems".[6][7] William Auld described her as a successor to Julio Baghy.[2]

Notable works

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  • Zrcaldo (Mirror, 1940)
  • Nur tri kolorojn (With Only Three Colors, 1960)
  • El subaj fontoj (From Springs Beneath, 1981)
  • Verso kaj larmo (Verse and Teardrop, 1986)
  • Hetajro dancas (A Hetaera Dances, 1995)
  • Vino, viroj kaj kanto (Wine, Men and Song, 1995)
  • Peza vino (Heavy Wine, 1996)
  • El mia buduaro (From My Boudoir, 2001)
  • Rapide pasis la temp' (Time Has Passed Swiftly, 2003)
  • Prefere ne tro rigardi retro (2007)

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Sutton 2008, p. 340.
  2. ^ a b c Sutton 2008, p. 333.
  3. ^ Sutton 2008, p. 332.
  4. ^ Sutton 2008, p. 246.
  5. ^ Sutton 2008, p. 18.
  6. ^ Sutton 2008, p. 194.
  7. ^ Sutton 2008, p. 210.

Bibliography

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  • Sutton, Geoffrey (2008). Concise Encyclopedia of the Original Literature of Esperanto, 1887–2007. ISBN 9781595690906.