František Langer

František Langer (Prague, 1888 – 1965) was a Czech playwright, screenwriter, essayist, literary critic and military physician. Born into a secular Jewish family in Prague, he came of age as the Habsburg monarchy was sliding into war, and his path took him from medical school to the front and then to the Czechoslovak Legion. Writing in Czech, he became one of the figures who shaped the stage of the new Czechoslovak state.

While studying medicine at Charles University he befriended Jaroslav Hašek, and the two wrote and performed a play together. He was also active in the artists' circles of the day and edited the magazine of one of them. Drafted into the Austro-Hungarian army as a medical officer, he served on the Galician front, was wounded, and was later taken prisoner in Russia. There he worked as a physician in a camp hospital, and after the February Revolution of 1917 he joined the Legion, taking part in the battle of Zborov and the long journey home across Siberia.

His main output is drama. His plays deal with war, city life and social satire, often with humour and a sharp eye for its absurdities. After the war he worked as a dramatic adviser at the Vinohrady Theatre and commanded a military hospital in Prague. During the Second World War he was in England as a brigadier general of the Czechoslovak army in exile. He is remembered chiefly for his war plays and for The Camel Through the Needle's Eye, the work most often seen abroad.