Ivan Martin Jirous
Encyclopedia
Ivan Martin Jirous was a Czech
poet, best known for being the artistic director of the Czech psychedelic rock
group The Plastic People of the Universe
and later one of the organizers of the Czech underground during the communist
regime. He is also known more frequently as Magor, which can be roughly translated as "loony" or "blockhead" and is supposedly derived from "phantasmagoria". This nickname was given to him by the "experimental" poet Eugen Brikcius. His wife, Věra Jirousová, wrote a good deal of the Plastics' early lyrics.
Trained as an art historian but unable to work as such under the Communist regime in then Czechoslovakia
, Magor/Jirous was a member of the dissident
subculture there. His particular contribution to Czech dissidence was his work on the concept of the "Parallel Polis," or "Second Culture." Magor believed that simply expressing oneself through art could ultimately undermine the totalitarian
system.
He was friends with Václav Havel
, and is mentioned several times in Havel's Letters to Olga
.
Czech people
Czechs, or Czech people are a western Slavic people of Central Europe, living predominantly in the Czech Republic. Small populations of Czechs also live in Slovakia, Austria, the United States, the United Kingdom, Chile, Argentina, Canada, Germany, Russia and other countries...
poet, best known for being the artistic director of the Czech psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom...
group The Plastic People of the Universe
The Plastic People of the Universe
The Plastic People of the Universe is a rock band from Prague, Czech Republic. It was the foremost representative of Prague's underground culture . This avant-garde group went against the grain of the Communist regime and due to its non-conformism often suffered serious problems such as arrests...
and later one of the organizers of the Czech underground during the communist
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
regime. He is also known more frequently as Magor, which can be roughly translated as "loony" or "blockhead" and is supposedly derived from "phantasmagoria". This nickname was given to him by the "experimental" poet Eugen Brikcius. His wife, Věra Jirousová, wrote a good deal of the Plastics' early lyrics.
Trained as an art historian but unable to work as such under the Communist regime in then Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
, Magor/Jirous was a member of the dissident
Dissident
A dissident, broadly defined, is a person who actively challenges an established doctrine, policy, or institution. When dissidents unite for a common cause they often effect a dissident movement....
subculture there. His particular contribution to Czech dissidence was his work on the concept of the "Parallel Polis," or "Second Culture." Magor believed that simply expressing oneself through art could ultimately undermine the totalitarian
Totalitarianism
Totalitarianism is a political system where the state recognizes no limits to its authority and strives to regulate every aspect of public and private life wherever feasible...
system.
He was friends with Václav Havel
Václav Havel
Václav Havel is a Czech playwright, essayist, poet, dissident and politician. He was the tenth and last President of Czechoslovakia and the first President of the Czech Republic . He has written over twenty plays and numerous non-fiction works, translated internationally...
, and is mentioned several times in Havel's Letters to Olga
Letters to Olga
Letters to Olga is a book of letters by Václav Havel to his wife Olga Havlová during his stay in prison from June 1979 to September 1982. His actual stay lasted until January 1983, when he came down with high fever, was sent into a hospital, and then released....
.