Bohumil Hrabal (1914, Brno) is the most widely read Czech writer. During the Second World War, he worked as a telegraph operator and dispatcher of trains. Although he graduated in law, since 1963 he lived and worked as a professional writer. Based on his most important work, the novel "Strictly Followed Trains", a very successful film was made, which in 1968 won the Oscar in the category of the best foreign film. Soon after, he was banned from publishing in the Czech Republic, which is why his later works were published as samizdat or in exile. He died in 1997 in Prague.