Jára Cimrman

Who is the greatest Czech? Some of you may say Charles IV, others Václav Havel. Still different people may consider Masaryk. However, ask a Czech and the answer is likely to be Jára Cimrman.

Beyond that, little else is known about his early life or his middle years or even his final days, for that matter. Only one photo exists of him as a child, which is on display at the Museum of Jára Cimrman located beneath Petřín Tower. Cimrman was last seen in Liptákov. The town is also disputed.

Cimrman’s genius extended beyond invention. For example, Anton Chekov had intended to call his famous play “Two Sisters” until Cimrman remarked, “Isn’t that too few?” prompting the writer to increase it by one.

Despite Cimrman’s own records, which illustrate his contribution in almost every sphere of modern civilization, the genius of the man remains overlooked.

Yet, something about the idea struck a chord, and the character and his narrative of grand personal failure spawned a theater company in 1967, which started to produce the Cimrman plays. The plays were written by Svěrák and the late Ladislav Smoljak, who passed away last year. Over its 45-year history, the theater company has put on nearly 12,000 performances in total. That’s about 260 productions a year, all which sell out.

All performances have the same format. The first section is a seminar presented by prominent Cimrmanologists (actors from the theater troupe) who discuss one of Cimrman’s contributions to fields such as pedagogy, criminology, linguistics, or physics. The clip below shows Cimrman’s theories on light and sound, and his proof that light is faster than sound. (In Czech)

The second part is the play, which in some way relates to the first. One striking aspect about the performances is the stage design. Sets are hand-painted, and the costumes often look like an assortment of old clothes the guys found in their grandmothers’ trunks.

Václav Kotek, the man in the blue coat in the clip above, and the theater’s PR person, said that the appearance was intentional. He said, “Cimrman and his time is situated at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. That means that the theatrics and stage design comes from the time when Cimrman would have been doing it.”

Over the four and half decades, Cimrman has become an important part of local culture. Vinyl recordings, tapes, CDs, and DVDs of the plays have constantly been sold. Fans of the plays quote lines to one another.

The firmest proof of Cimrman’ status was when he received the most votes for Czech TV’s Greatest Czech competition, beating people like Havel and Masaryk. Czech TV decided to disqualify him since, you know, he doesn’t exist. However, Cimrman’s supporters were adamant and collected signatures to have him recognized. In the end, he won a second contest for the greatest fictional Czech character.

That the Czechs would admire a man who, in a sense, represents failure, no doubt speak volumes of the Czech nation’s psyche. Many interpret it as an underdog mentality and an ability to identify with disappointment and failure. Not to mention, it shows that they don’t take themselves too seriously.

Kotek gave some further insight into the theater’s longevity and popularity. He said, “The humor isn’t sarcastic. It isn’t satire. The humor is kind and mainly intelligent because a member of the audience is prepared for the joke. However, the joke isn’t presented easily, but they must think it over and because it’s thought over the audience member is a part of the realization of the performance.”

When  discussing Cimrman with Czechs, one of the most typical responses is that it is something you have to be Czech to fully understand. Mr. Kotek agreed. Even if a foreigner speaks Czech, he or she won’t have much of a chance to get the humor because a lot of it is reacting to moments in Czech history, and foreigners don’t “have [the history] under their skin”.

But – and I say this at the risk of inviting criticism – there are elements which transcend that nationalism, and providing you speak the language well enough to follow, the plays have a universal appeal.

His desire to translate them was a personal enjoyment of the humor and a recognition that an equivalent didn’t exist in English. Also, he thinks there is quite a deal of literary merit along with what he describes as “lapses into vulgarity and boyish humor.”

Some of the humor, he admits, is specific to either the language or the culture. Some of it he sees as having broader appeal. He said, “on the other side, I think a surprising amount works fairly well. Almost all of the seminars that don’t rely on a really detailed knowledge of Czech culture work pretty well.”

As further proof of Cimrman’s wider appeal, on a recent visit to the Museum of Jára Cimrman I noticed a group of German tourists laughing at many of the exhibits. I couldn’t help but ask if they were already familiar with the character.

One of the women in the group said they just happened to come down after visiting Petřín Tower. In her own words, she found the comments on the photos satirical and amusing.

So if Cimrman can make a group of strangers laugh, perhaps there is a chance for him to broaden his audience.

As always, we’d be curious to hear your take on the greatest Czech.

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