Cechura Rudolf

Cechura Rudolf, *2.5. 1931 (Zelenky)

Rudolf Cechura is a Czech writer, screen play writer, and freelance author.  He is an important Sherlock Holmes expert and a promoter of Sherlock Holmes’ name in our country.  He finished business school in Chomutov (1950) and gymnasium for teachers in Jihlava (1953).  Mr. Cechura then worked as an office worker for Poldovka steel mill (Chomutov plant), also taught school in the Chomutov region, and later became news editor in Czech Radio and editor of magazine “Veda a technika mladezi” (VTM) in Prague.  He was eventually fired for political reasons from the editorial position at VTM and has been freelancing since 1973.

Since the year 1968, Mr. Cechura has been a member of the Sherlock Holmes Society of London, and is one of the three founding members of the Czech branch of the Sherlock Holmes Society (established in 2000).  There he holds position of a special advisor.  He had promoted and still promotes the name of Sherlock Holmes in various magazine articles and stories (pastiches) which contain Sherlock’s famous name.   Mr. Cechura is best known to the public as the author of television bedtime stories for children (“Maxipes Fik”, “Hugo z hor”,  “Dva ve fraku”).  He wrote the screenplay for the television movie “Splhajici profesor “ (inspired by Sherlock Holmes’ case called The Adventure of the Creeping Man, a story written by A. C. Doyle) and wrote radio plays for the radio program Meteor.  In 1989 he finished so far unstaged  Sherlock  Holmes theater play  for “Divadlo ABC” (Theater ABC) in Prague.

Mr. Cechura’s literary works are focused on detective themes in books for both children and adults, but his works  also show science fiction and humorous themes:   “Nikdo nema alibi” (1969), “Abeceda duvtipu” (1979)”, “Maxipes Fik” (1981), “Psi prihody” (1983), “Pavian mezi lidmi” (1986), “Dr. Sherlock Holmes v Cechach (a jine pripady) (1999), “Sperhak” (1996), “Kockodrom” (1998), “Citanka pro zacinajici detektivy” (Ze zazitku Sherlocka Holmese) (2003), “Nekdo to rad jinak” (2004).  As one of his latest works we can name his novel  “Jako zvire” (2005).

Many of his pastiches about Sherlock Holmes were published in the magazine “Ohnicek” and printed as cartoons in the magazine “Ctyrlistek”.  Altogether, ten stories were published in 2003 as a collection in “Knizni klub” (Book Club) under the title “Citanka pro zacinajici detektivy” (Readings for beginning detectives).  Rudolf Cechura received many awards and prizes during his life.  Among others, Mr. Cechure received ten platinum records from the music publisher “Supraphon”, and in 1995 he received

Literary award from “Knizni klub” and the Eduard Fiker award (the best manuscript award from the Czech section of AIEP) in 2004 for his detective novel “Jako zvire”.