Bezruc, Petr

Bezruč, Petr (pĕt`ər bĕz`rch), pseud. of Vladimir Vašek (väsh`ĕk), 1867–1958, Czech poet, called the bard of Silesia. Bezruč's fame rests solely on the Silesian Songs (1903, enl. ed. 1909). In these 88 stark, moving verses the poet protests the suppression by the Austrians of the Slavic peoples living between Silesia and Moravia. Bezruč was an admirer of Whitman, but his work belongs to no school. After World War II the Czech government granted him a pension.