Jaroslav Hasek

Czech author Jaroslav Hasek was born in 1883 in Prague, Bohemia (now Czech Republic), which at the time was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. His father was an alcoholic schoolteacher who was constantly moving the family in search of better paying jobs, and died when Jaroslav was 13. The youngster apprenticed himself to a druggist at 15, but decided that wasn't for him and eventually attended business school. He briefly worked as a bank clerk before taking up a career as a freelance writer and journalist.