Václav Kliment Klicpera

Václav Kliment Klicpera (23 November 1792 – 15 September 1859) was a Czech playwright, writer, and poet. He was one of the first presenters of Czech drama, and was especially influential in the foundation of comedic Czech theatre.

Portrait of Václav Kliment Klicpera by Jan Vilímek, 1883

Klicpera was born in Chlumec nad Cidlinou. After graduating from a gymnasium (a European secondary school) in 1813, he moved to Prague. There he studied philosophy in 1816 and medicine in 1818. In June 1819 he was made a professor at a gymnasium in Hradec Králové. In 1850 he became schoolmaster of a Prague gymnasium.

He was skilled in writing chivalric plays and patriotically-themed historical dramas that became the foundation of modern Czech drama. He is also recognized for his farces (in Czech frašky), in the Plautine tradition. He also wrote historical romance stories, plays from his own era, and plays with fairy tale motifs. Klicpera supported the advancement of Czech theatre through the publication of plays in the Klicpera's theatre edition.

He died in Prague and is buried in the city's Olšany Cemetery.