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The Good Soldier Švejk |
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People |
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Franz Ferdinand and Sophie Chotek leave the Sarajevo Town Hall, 5 minutes before the assassination, June 28 1914.
"The Fateful Adventures of the Good Soldier Švejk" is a novel with an unusually rich array of characters. In addition to the many who directly form part of the plot, a large number of fictive and real people (and animals) are mentioned; either through Švejks anecdotes, the narrative or indirectly through words and expressions.
This web page will in due course contain a full overview of names mentioned in the novel; from Napoleon in the introduction to Captain Ságner in the last few lines of the unfinished Book Four. The list is sorted according to the order which the names appear in the novel. The chapter headlines are from Zenny K. Sadlon's recent translation and will in most cases differ from Cecil Parrott's older version.
- The facts are mainly taken from Wikipedia but verified against other sources
- The quotes in Czech are copied from the online version of Švejk provided by Jaroslav Šerák and contain links to the relevant chapter
- The toolbar has links for direct access to Wikipedia, Google maps, Google search and Švejk online
Please note that translation of the personal names in a some cases differ between the Parrott and Sadlon translations. In these cases I have used Wikipedia and other online sources for the most up to date rendering in English, with Sadlon's and Parrott's translations footnoted in the corresponding description.
The names are colored according to their role in the novel, illustrated by the following examples: Doctor Grünstein who is directly involved in the plot, Heinrich Heine as a historical person, and Ferdinand Kokoška as an invented person, mentioned in dialogues and anecdotes.
The Good Soldier Švejk list of people mentioned in the novel
show all (508)
Book one. In the rear
1. The good soldier Švejk acts to intervene in the world war (24)
14. Švejk as military servant to senior lieutenant Lukáš (35)
Book two. At the front
2. Švejk's budějovická anabasis (52)
3. Švejk's happenings in Királyhida (41)
5. From Bruck on the Leitha toward Sokal (44)
Book three. The famous thrashing
1. Across Magyaria (54)
2. In Budapest (34)
3. From Hatvan to the borders of Galicia (33)
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Book one. In the rear |
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6. Švejk at home again, having broken through the vicious circle | |||
| The Devil | ![]() | ||||
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The Devil is a mythological figure in numerous religions; symbolising the evil. Alternative names are Satan, Lucifer, Mephistopheles and Beelzebub. In monoethist religions, the Devil is generally considered the opposite of God. He presides in Hell as opposed to God who rules in heaven. The Devil has a bad name, he is invoked whenever one seeks to convey a negative association, typically uttered through so-called swearwords. As a symbolical expression, the word devil through it's many variations, may be one of the most used ever.
Context
The Devil name is first invoked when the interrogator at police headquarters gets uptight about Švejks reassurement that his exclamation: "Long live the Emperor, we'll win this war!" was not meant ironically. His name occurs repeatdely, mostly in the form of Czech and German swearwords.
Quote from the novel
Vem vás čert, Švejku,“ řekla nakonec úřední brada, „jestli se sem ještě jednou dostanete,tak se vás vůbec nebudu na nic ptát a poputujete přímo k vojenskému soudu na Hradčany. Rozuměl jste?
... Zatímco Švejk koupal Maxa, plukovník, bývalý jeho majitel, strašně doma láteřil a vyhrožoval, že postaví toho, kdo mu psa ukradl, před válečný soud, že ho dá zastřelit, pověsit, zavřít na dvacet let a rozsekat. „Der Teufel soll den Kerl buserieren,“ ozývalo se v bytě plukovníka, až se třásla okna, „mit solchem Meuchelmördern werde ich bald fertig.“
Nad Švejkem i nadporučíkem Lukášem vznášela se ve vzduchu katastrofa. ... more
Also written:Čert cz Der Teufel de
| Čimpera | ![]() | |
Context
Čimpera owned a piece of land in Straškov no.5 that he advertised for sale in a newspaper found at U Kalicha. Švejk read the advert aloud to demonstrate his total lack of interest in Bretschneider who tried to approach him.
NB! According to Hodík and Landa a certain Václav Čimpera lived in Straškov no. 5 in 1910, so this was very probaly a real person.
Quote from the novel
Švejk sňal s věšáku nějaké noviny a prohlížeje si zadní stranu inserátů, ozval se: „Tak vida, tenhle Čimpera v Straškově č. 5, p. Račiněves, prodá hospodářství s třinácti korci vlastních polí, škola a dráha na místě.“ Bretschneider nervosně zabubnoval prsty a obraceje se k Švejkovi řekl: „To se divím, proč vás to hospodářství zajímá, pane Švejku.“ ... more
| Mařena | ![]() | |
Context
Mařena was a lady who the porter at the nigh café Mimosa had brought home. This happened when Švejk got back from his time in custody and discovered that his room had been rented out. The lady contributed to the novel with a single utterance when she dressed Švejk down with the select words: "you son of an Archbishop!"
Quote from the novel
„Já jsem chtěl spát do osmi večer,“ zaraženě ozval se portýr, navlékaje kalhoty, „já platím denně z postele dvě koruny té paní a můžu si sem vodit slečny z kavárny. Mařeno, vstávej!“ ... more
| Kalous | ![]() | |
Context
Kalous was another police detective who, like Bretschneider bought dogs from Švejk in order to lure something compromising out of him. He got nowhere and soon disappeared from the plot.
Quote from the novel
Pak tam šel koupit psa detektiv Kalous a vrátil se s vyjevenou potvorou, připomínající hyenu skvrnitou, s hřívou škotského ovčáka, a v položkách tajného fondu přibyla nová: D...90 K. ... more
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| © 2010 Jomar Hønsi | Last updated: 14/1-2010 | hits since 5/11-2009. | Statistics |




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