He grew up during the war and drew Gottwald. He created freely and resurrected Štefánik
Download image
Gotthard Janda was born on 5 November 1939 in Dolní Benešov. His ancestors include the sculptor Johannes Janda, who lived and worked mainly in Berlin in the 19th century. His father Richard died in 1940 and his mother remarried to a miner Josef Kuchejda. In the spring of 1945 he experienced the crossing of the front line, witnessed the expulsion of the Germans and the Revolutionary Guards in the village. He trained as a turner. He worked in the workshops of the OKR mining company. Later he studied at the Secondary School of Arts and Crafts in Uherské Hradiště, where he graduated in 1962. In 1971 he graduated from the Faculty of Architecture in Brno. He joined Stavoprojekt in Opava, from where he left and freelanced in industrial design. In Dolní Benešov he worked to save monuments. After 1989 he created busts of Karel Engliš and Jan Zajíc. He significantly contributed to the restoration of the monumental statue of M. R. Štefánik in Bratislava destroyed by the communists. In the year of recording (2025) he lived in Dolní Benešov and worked on the bust of J. Gregor Mendel.