Vladimír Franz


Vladimír Franz, is a Czech composer, painter, university scholar and occasional journalist, poet and playwright. Since mid-1980s he has composed stage music for more than 150 theatre performances—for many of them he was awarded national-level prizes—he has also composed a symphony, several operas, oratorios, a musical, ballet, as well as film music and music for documentaries and radio plays. His second main area of activities in the field of arts is represented by painting. Since 1991 he has been a lecturer at the Prague's Faculty of Theatre. In 2012 he was also a registered candidate in the 2013 Czech presidential election. The attention of local as well as world media has been attracted to him usually due to his extraordinarily extensive tattoo.

Biography

Franz was born in Prague. He studied at a gymnasium and later at the Faculty of Law of Charles University. During his studies, he took private lectures in painting, composition, art history and music history.
After his studies, he did not enter legal practice, but instead spent the 1980s in a variety of jobs, including as a high school teacher. In 1981, he co-founded the theatre Kytka, and gradually moved his attention to scenic music.
Since 1991, he has worked as a teacher at the Faculty of Theatre of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. In 2004, he was appointed Professor of Dramatic Arts.
In 2013 he was a candidate in the Czech presidential elections. He placed 5th in the first round with 6.84%, but did not qualify for the second round.

Tattoos

Vladimír Franz is known also for his extensive tattoos, including facial ones. His unusual appearance attracted the attention of world press during the 2013 presidential election.
In an interview for the TV NOVA, he commented:

Awards

Franz is a six-time recipient of the Alfréd Radok Award: