author
Václav Tille
1867–1937
A Czech writer, folklorist, and critic whose work moved easily between scholarship and storytelling. He is especially remembered for collecting and studying folk tales, and for writing children’s books under the pen name Václav Říha.
1 Audiobook
Little Tom
by Václav Tille
About the author
Born in Tábor on February 16, 1867, he became an important figure in Czech literary and cultural life in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He studied in Prague and Innsbruck, later worked as a librarian and teacher, and also wrote as a literary, theater, and film critic.
His interests were unusually wide: alongside criticism and scholarship, he devoted major attention to folklore and fairy tales. Under his own name he published learned studies, while under the pseudonym Václav Říha he wrote stories and books for younger readers.
He died in Prague on June 26, 1937. Today he is remembered both as a serious scholar of literature and folk tradition and as a writer who helped bring that world to general readers in an inviting, accessible way.