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In 1973, the book The Entertaining and Educational Corner of Jaroslav Hašek[b] was published. It contains a selection of stories and unsigned items believed to have been written by Hašek. The book was the result of twenty years of research and includes a valuable afterword by Radko Pytlík, one of the book's three editors. This afterword implicitly dispels most of the myths surrounding Hašek and his endeavours at Svět zvířat (The Animal World), chiefly the claims that he fooled readers by describing imaginary animals and that this led to his dismissal.

Hašek's zoological garden

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Haškologists Ančík and Hůla barking up the wrong tree by claiming that Hašek discovered new species.

Before 1950, no one had seriously attempted to investigate Hašek's undertakings at Svět zvířat. Information on the subject was limited to Hašek's own writing and brief sections in memoir literature written by his friends (Franta Sauer, Ladislav Hájek, Emil Artur Longen, Václav Menger).

The first scholarly investigation of this theme was carried out by Břetislav Hůla in the years following World War II. The result was the book The Small Zoological Garden [a]. It was published in 1950 but with Zdena Ančík instead of Hůla listed as editor. Unfortunately, the book gives no bibliographic information about the stories and contains many items that the editors mistakenly assumed had been written by Hašek. In the introduction Ančík claimed that Hašek invented no fewer than seven new species and thus underpinned the myths about Hašek's animal hoaxes, and even claimed that Hašek was behind the discovery of the blue whale and the tyrannosaurus.

The book even contains a number of stories that were published in Svět zvířat years before Hašek was appointed editor. This in itself is not proof that Hašek did not write them, but closer examination reveals that these stories were mere translations from German.

Hašek, entertainer and educator

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The second attempt to investigate Hašek's work at Svět zvířat goes a long way towards rectifying the shortcomings of the 1950 predecessor. It contains a detailed bibliography of the stories and articles, end notes and a detailed afterword. Published in 1973, it formed part of the series The Writings of Jaroslav Hašek[c] and was titled Zábavný a poučný koutek Jaroslava Haška (hereafter Koutek).

It was the twelfth of sixteen volumes of stories, plays, articles, and other pieces written by Jaroslav Hašek. The series is named Spisy Jaroslava Haška (The Writings of Jaroslav Hašek) and was published between 1955 and 1973. With very few exceptions, Spisy contains everything that Hašek is known to have written. This volume was edited by Zdena Ančík, Milan Jankovič, and Radko Pytlík, who at the time were generally regarded as the foremost experts on Hašek's work.

Volume twelve of "Spisy" is dedicated to Hašek's journalistic work rather than his satirical and humorous stories. It contains selected material from Svět zvířat (The Animal World) and, to a lesser extent, from České Slovo (The Czech Word) and Svět (The World).

The content of Fun and Education spans the years from 1909 to 1913. During this period, Hašek worked for Svět zvířat in two separate stints. He moved into the editorial offices in November 1908 and may have contributed to the magazine already in December. From February 1909 to October 1910 he was the editor, and from December 1912 until May 1913 he took on a similar role. In effect, he spent more time working for Svět zvířat than for any other employer, including the Red Army and the Legions.

Particularly revealing is Radko Pytlík's afterword, which is based on the researchers' findings after they read and investigated all the issues of Svět zvířat published during Hašek's time as editor, as well as České Slovo and Svět. This afterword is a must-read for anyone interested in Hašek's journalistic work and the myths surrounding it.

Undermining the myths
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Hltoun strašlivý (the terrible guzzler) never appeared in the columns of Svět zvířat.

Over the years much has been written about Jaroslav Hašek and Svět zvířat. In biographies, memoir literature, and various articles (in print and online), one often reads that Hašek invented animals much as Einjährigfreiwilliger Marek did in The Good Soldier Švejk, that he was sacked because of his "discoveries" and other pranks, that he advertised werewolves for sale, that he wrote about an animal called the terrible guzzler, and that he dreamt up all sorts of stories about animals.

In the afterword to this book, Radko Pytlík challenges these myths, not by refuting them directly but by describing what the researchers de facto discovered when reading and investigating Svět zvířat.

After twenty years of research, he and his colleagues (Zdena Ančík and Milan Jankovič) concluded that what Hašek later wrote about his time at Svět zvířat, whether in short stories, Strana mírného pokroku v mezích zákona, or via Einjährigfreiwilliger Marek in The Good Soldier Švejk, was largely exaggerated and distorted.

The researchers did however find many references in the three magazines that were reflected in Hašek's later writing, including The Good Soldier Švejk. Examples mentioned are Flanderka, Xenophon, Bretschneider, Gyula Kakonyi, the sulphur-bellied whale, the jay, the Merry Corner. Furthermore, the robber from the Bakony forest is mentioned, as is the motif of Herostrates, who set fire to the temple in Ephesus, the cat eating a canary bird in [I.41,1], the wrecked marble table in [I.4], and more.

O Haškových pověstných mystifikacích jsme doposud věděli jen z jeho pozdějšího humorného vyprávění, zejména z příslušných kapitol Dějin strany mírného pokroku, z črty V přírodovědeckém časopise a z vyprávění jednoročního dobrovolníka Marka ve Švejkovi. Podle shod, jež se nám nyní po podrobném průzkumu časopisu podařilo objevit, zjišťujeme, že jsou v pozdějším vyprávění vesměs přehnány a přetvořeny. Radko Pytlík, Zábavný a poučný koutek Jaroslava Haška, 1973

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Hájek describing how Fuchs lost patience with Hašek, initially due to his irregular appearances in the office.

Ladislav Hájek,1925

Nor could the literary experts point to any particular item in the journal that could have given its owner, Václav Fuchs, sufficient pretext to dismiss his editor. They suggest, with reference to Ladislav Hájek, that Hašek's departure was due to his careless management of the magazine.

Hájek indeed noted that Hašek's appearances in the office became increasingly rare and also indicated that Hašek had reverted to an irresponsible way of life [e].

Interestingly, even Hájek claims that Hašek invented animals, such as a fly with sixteen wings. This is, however, another animal that does not appear in Svět zvířat, suggesting that Hájek based these claims on hearsay rather than on what he had actually read in the magazine.

Hned v úvodní stati je zmínka o starověkém Efialtovi, jenž prý zapálil chrám bohyně v Efesu, aby se dostal do dějin. Totéž řecké jméno se vyskytuje za několik týdnů poté v Haškově humoresce Baluškova zrada, tentokráte ve správném významu: Efialtes byl starořecký zrádce, jenž zavedl perské vojsko do zad svých krajanů u Thermopyl. Snad někdo Haška na omyl upozornil, snad přišel na svou chybu sám. V poválečném Švejkovi se objevuje motiv hérostratovský, jenž patří k základním složkám výstavby tohoto díla a slouží k odhalení protikladných zájmů malého člověka a ctižádostivých vojevůdců; vyskytuje se již se správným označením historickým. Radko Pytlík, Zábavný a poučný koutek Jaroslava Haška, 1973

Not only Svět zvířat
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Hašek describes how he was forced to leave the National Social Party, thus ending his brief career as a local reporter for České slovo.

Kopřivy,14.3.1912

Although most of the content of Koutek is from Svět zvířat, Hašek's brief career as a local reporter in České Slovo is also featured. It lasted from December 1911 until February 1912 and, according to his own account, he was expelled from Česká strana národně sociální [f].

In addition, Koutek contains some stories from Svět, a weekly that was closely tied to Svět zvířat. It began as a supplement to Svět zvířat but became an independent magazine in 1913. Both journals were owned by Ladislav Hájek, who had inherited Svět zvířat from his father-in-law, the late Václav Fuchs. The stories from Svět are all from the first half of 1913.

In the afterword there is also an analysis of the similarities between Hašek's work as a journalist and his humorous stories. It is noted that both often have an encyclopaedic character, with a range of facts mixed in. Radko Pytlík concluded that there are countless factual and situational allusions and similarities in Hašek's journalism and humorous work.

Shortcomings

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The sulphur-bellied whale was not Hašek's invention, but he probably translated an article about it.

Svět zvířat,1.6.1909

There are, however, some flaws in the analysis. The researchers did not put much effort into investigating issues of Svět zvířat published before, between, and after Hašek's stints as editor. Radko Pytlík indirectly acknowledges this by stating that Břetislav Hůla (implying The Small Zoological Garden) included material that "could not have been written by Hašek because it was printed before he was appointed editor". This is correct, but if they had done so, they would have avoided a few erroneous conclusions.

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The Merry Corner predated Hašek's time at Svět zvířat with at least five years.

Svět zvířat,15.1.1904

The editors of Fun and Education claim that Hašek introduced the column Veselý koutek. Had they browsed the older volumes, they would have noticed that this column already existed and dates back at least to 1 January 1904. This narrow focus also led them to omit The Renamed Flea altogether, an unsigned notice that was printed in 1911. Thus, they overlooked one of Hašek's few confirmed animal hoaxes and arguably the most successful.

The researchers also incorrectly attributed to Hašek some stories and unsigned articles that he did not write but probably translated. An example is "Modern Whalehunting" by Franz Winter, translated from the magazine Über Land und Meer (1909) and published in Svět zvířat on 1 June 1909, complete with photos from the German original. As a consequence, they also concluded that Frant. Winter was one of Hašek's pseudonyms. Another presumed "pseudonym" that indeed was a real person was Svobodný pán z Kapherrů (Egon von Kapherr).

Findings going unnoticed, legends living on

The researchers' conclusions were printed as a postscript in one of the volumes of Spisy, which is arguably why they have not received much attention. It seems that very few scholars took note of this information. This has allowed the myths about Hašek and Svět zvířat to persist until this day (2025), even among scholars and other experts.

Radko Pytlík himself must share some of the blame for this situation. After 1973 he published many books about Jaroslav Hašek but never again mentioned the findings he had presented in the afterword to Zábavný a poučný koutek Jaroslava Haška, 1973.

Bibliography

The bibliography in Koutek is incomplete, so this webpage aims to supplement it wherever possible. The articles are listed chronologically, starting with the earliest known item from 1 February 1909 and ending with the last known article from 1913. The items are divided into two sections: Main stories (Stati a fejetony) and Unsigned articles. Entries mistakenly attributed to Hašek are struck through.

Literature
References
aMalá zoologická zahradaed. Zdena Ančík1950
bZábavný a poučný koutek Jaroslava Haškaed. Zdena Ančík, Radko Pytlík, Milan Jankovič1973
cJaroslav Haška zoologická zahradaLA-PNPBřetislav Hůla1950
dBibliografie Jaroslava HaškaŠtěpán Kosík2025
eZ mých vzpomínek na Jaroslava HaškaLadislav Hájek1925
fJak jsem vystoupil ze strany Nár. sociálníKopřivyJaroslav Hašek14.3.1912
© 2008 - 2026 Jomar Hønsi Last updated: 29 July 2026