Vladimír Helfert, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

Vladimír Helfert

Czech conductor and university educator

Date of Birth: 24-Mar-1886

Place of Birth: Plánice, Plzeň Region, Czech Republic

Date of Death: 18-May-1945

Profession: conductor, pedagogue, musicologist

Zodiac Sign: Aries

Vladimír Helfert (March 24, 1886 in Plánice (near Klatovy) – March 18, 1945 in Prague) was an important Czech musicologist in the interwar period.
Although his early career as a music critic was clouded by the negative influence of his teacher, Zdenek Nejedlý, with whom he studied at Charles University.
After accepting a post in 1922 as professor of musicology at Masaryk University in Brno, he went against Nejedlý's teachings and championed the music of Leoš Janácek.
His greatest work, Ceská moderní hudba.
Studie o ceské hudební tvorivosti (Czech Modern Music: A study of Czech musical creativity, 1936), came under public attack by Nejedlý and his remaining followers.
During the Nazi occupation, Helfert became involved with the underground Czechoslovak Communist Party and was arrested for resistance activities.
He was interned in Brno's Špilberk Castle by the Gestapo in 1939, and subsequently in Wroclaw until 1942.
After convalescing he was arrested again in 1944, and held in Prague's Pankrác prison and finally the Theresienstadt concentration camp: his health did not survive the trip back to Prague after liberation.