Hundreds turn out to honour Karel Čapek at annual Vyšehrad cemetery ceremony

About two hundred admirers of Karel Čapek met at his grave in Prague this Christmas Day, the 80th anniversary of the writer’s death.

Best known as a science fiction author, Karel Čapek was a writer of great scope, whom many classify alongside Aldous Huxley and George Orwell.

Academic Martin C. Putna, a principal spokesman of the Čapek Brothers Society, delivered a speech based on the writer’s work Apocryphal Tales, highlighting the writer's idea that every man is a "spark of good", and talking about the dangers of extremism.

While Karel is buried at the Vyšehrad cemetery, his brother Josef Čapek, a celebrated cubist painter as well as a writer, died in the Belsen concentration camp.

Karel Čapek's funeral on December 29, 1938 in Vyšehrad became a public demonstration. The Čapek Brothers Society was established in 1947.

Author: Brian Kenety