Otakar Bystřina

Otakar Bystřina (real name Ferdinand Dostál; 23 May 1861 – 18 July 1931) was a Czech writer and lawyer. He wrote humorous stories related to the Moravian ethnographic regions, especially to his native region of Haná.

Biography Otakar Bystřina was born Ferdinand Dostál on 23 May 1861 in Věrovany, Moravia, Austrian Empire, to the innkeeper's family. He studied at a gymnasium in Olomouc, but in 1878 he was expelled from school for disorderly conduct and completed his studies in Chrudim. His stepfather wanted him to study theology, but Bystřina preferred to break up with his family and entered the Faculty of Law of Charles University in Prague, from which he graduated in 1885. During his studies, he earned money in various ways, including as a typist and as a literary contributor to various magazines (e.g. Květy, Zlatá Praha and Švanda dudák).

After school, he was a trainee at the court and then worked as a legal assistant and attorney in various Moravian cities and towns. He is most closely associated with Nový Jičín, where he had a law office in 1893–1921 and in 1927–1931. In 1921, he and his family moved to Brno, but due to a lack of legal cases, he returned to Nový Jičín.