Jiří Weiss

Jiří Weiss 29 March 1913 9 April 2004 was a Czech film director screenwriter writer playwright and pedagogue Jiří Weiss was born to a wealthy Jewish family in Prague His father was a Czech patriot and named his son after Czech king Jiří of PoděbradyHis parents were Emil Weiss 18801942 and Martha Weissová née Fuchsová 18821944 Emil Weiss owned a liqueur factory in Libeň district Since his youth Jiří was an staunch communist which was at the heart of disputes with his capitalist parents As a young boy he was friends with Franz Kafkas niece Marianne Pollaková and thanks to her he was able to read the books of thenunknown writer Kafka in the 1920s Weiss was interested in studying at film school but his parents wished he studied law While still a minor he left his home and lived with his friend K M Walló cs Weiss started to work as a copywriter in advertising His father who disagreed with his life choices and could still make decisions about his underage son had him institutionalized in a mental hospital Weiss never spoke to his father ever again In his early twenties he started working as a copywriter for the Prague branch of MetroGoldwynMayer At this time he wrote his first book a story for children O věrné Hadimršce He befriended leading intellectuals of the Left Front in Prague including Vladislav Vančura and Ivan Olbracht In 1934 Vančura invited him to be an assistant cinematographer on his movie Marijka the Faithless based on Olbrachts book