Jara Cimrman
The greatest Czech fictional hero
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He is a fictional universal Czech genius created by the playwright Zdenek Sverak and the screenwriter Jiri Sebanek.
The exact date of Cimrman’s birth isn’t known, but it is thought to have been sometime in the second half of the 19th century. His father was a Czech tailor and his mother an Austrian actress. Nothing was known of his vast researches, his theatrical work and other activities, until the sensational discovery of the master’s legacy in 1966. The whole world was then acquainted with the greatness of his work and the extent of his genius which concerned all fields.
One of Cimrman’s major works was for example the project of the Panama Canal, for which he also wrote the libretto of a homonymous opera. He collaborated with Count Zeppelin on the building of the first airship. During one of his trips he missed the Northern Pole by a mere seven meters. He founded a puppet theater for the
local peons in Paraguay. He selflessly helped countless world personalities: he found a sublease for Mr. Eiffel, he reworked the electrical contact on the socket of Edison’s first light bulb, etc. He is also the founder of the theory of Externism, which, contrary to Solipsism (which advocates the sole existence of Me and not the rest of the world), asserts that the rest of the world does exist, but not the philosophical Me.
Cimrman is a phenomenon, which is proved by the poll organized by the Czech TV about the Greatest of all Czechs. He remained for a long time at the top of the poll, beating all the other personalities, before being disqualified from to competition for reasons of correctness (and because of his non-existence). A planetoid situated between Mars and Jupiter is even named after him, which is a fact that the master undoubtedly deserves, after having been forgotten for so long.
