125 years ago, Ondřej SEKORA was born, a popular writer, journalist, illustrator, amateur entomologist, and the founder of Czech rugby. He was the author of the legendary all-rounder, Ferda the Ant, and other beloved characters. In addition to journalism, he also worked with radio, television, film, and theater.

He was born on September 25, 1899, in Králov Pole, which is now part of Brno, as the third of six children of teacher Ondřej Sekora. When he was seven, his father died, and his mother, Anna, had to take care of the children. Despite her limited resources, she tried to provide all her children with the best possible education. Ondřej attended elementary school in Králov Pole, then went on to a grammar school in Brno, and after moving in 1913, he studied in Vyškov. He collected butterflies and beetles, played sports, read a lot, and enjoyed drawing. At the end of World War I, he was drafted as a one-year volunteer into the army, fortunately not to the trenches, but to Vienna, where he enjoyed visiting galleries and museums during his free time. He graduated after the war and, at his mother's request, enrolled in law school, but he soon realized that this field was not for him. He was drawn to journalism.

In 1921, he left his studies and joined Lidové noviny in Brno as a sports editor and illustrator of illustrated commentaries. At that time, no section could do without an illustrator because the quality of printing almost did not allow for the publication of photographs.

The year 1923 was important in his life: in the spring, he married Markéta Kalabusová, and in September, they went to Paris, where Lidové noviny sent him. As a journalist, he participated in the Winter Olympics in Chamonix, and some of his reports with illustrations were also published in French newspapers. He divorced after a year and had a second internship in Paris in 1927. He was a reporter for the Tour de France, wrote columns and reports, and in addition to illustrations, he also drew caricatures.

In France, he became enthusiastic about rugby and, upon his return home, he contributed to its promotion. He translated and illustrated the rules of this game, invented Czech rugby terminology, became a coach of the first clubs, and until 1944, he was also a referee, officiating the first rugby match in the country.

In 1928, Sekora joined the Prague office of Lidové noviny, where he was given the children's section called "Dětský koutek" (Children's Corner). At that time, he was privately studying drawing and painting with Professor A. Hofbauer at the School of Arts and Crafts, where he developed his own style that was close to animation. In the illustrated series, which were precursors to today's comics and were published serially in the Sunday supplement of Lidové noviny, he brought children stories full of suspense, humor, and situational comedy. The chicken Napipi was very popular, and of course, Ferda the Ant, which made him famous.

He drew the first comic character, Ferda the Ant, in 1927, with stories for adults – the mischievous ant got drunk on nectar from flowers and bothered the ladybugs. The diligent and inventive character, who knows everything and is always willing to help, was created in January 1933. The beetle Pytlík followed him in 1935. In 1936, the children's book Ferda the Ant was published with these characters, which caused such interest that Sekora immediately published two more books, Ferda the Ant in Foreign Service and Ferda in the Ant Colony, and added more over time. After the war, the series Bits and Pieces of Young Ferda the Ant was published in Mateřídouška starting in 1950. Sekora always verified everything he wrote, which is why his books were read with interest by natural scientists as well. He invented his stories, but everything about nature in them was true.

In 1941, he was forced to leave the editorial staff of the Lidové noviny newspaper because his second wife, Ludmila Roubíčková, whom he married in 1930, was Jewish, and he refused to divorce her. He was expelled from the National Association of Journalists, and from 1944 until the end of the war, he was interned in labor camps in Poland and Germany. While there, he kept a diary, and together with fellow prisoner, the actor Oldřich Nový, they performed puppet shows. His wife ended up in Theresienstadt, and although she contracted typhus, she survived the war, and they were happily reunited with their son, Ondřej, who was born in 1931 and had been cared for by relatives in Jevíčko during that time. In the post-war years, Sekora joined the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, becoming an editor for the newspaper Práce and the magazine Dikobraz. In 1949, he co-founded the State Publishing House for Children's Books, which is now known as Albatros. He was involved in the early attempts at television broadcasting for children, performed puppet shows, and held talks with children throughout the country. From 1952, he worked as a freelance writer, writing and illustrating for publications such as Lidové noviny, Hosta do domu, Mateřídouška, Ohníček, and Pionýr. During his lifetime, he illustrated 40 books by other authors and published twenty-five of his own. In 1964, he was awarded the title of Meritorious Artist, and in 1966, he received the Marie Majerová Award for Literature. A stroke in 1964 marked the end of his public activities. He died in Prague on July 4, 1967, and is buried in Košíře, at the Na Malvazinkách cemetery. Photo - Moravian Regional Museum, Brno