Jaroslav Hasek(18831923) wrote, in addition to this masterpiece, more than 2,000 short works, stories, glosses, and sketches, mostly under various pen names. Born in Bohemia, he spent several years in Russian prison camps, and died at Lipnice in Czechoslovakia. Cecil Parrottwas Haseks biographer as well as the best-known translator of his work. Josef Ladawas an artist and illustrator and friend of Haseks from 1907.