KRAUS, IVAN

KRAUS, IVAN (1939– ), Czech writer. Kraus was born in Prague into a Czech-Jewish family. His father, Oto Kraus (see kulka , Erich), survived Auschwitz. Kraus studied at the School of International Economic Relations. As an actor he performed in many Czech plays and lived in exile in France and Germany from 1971. In his literary works he worked in the tradition of Czech and Anglo-American humor, focusing on family relations with rich comedy and irony, often displaying the absurdity of socialist life. His stories were published abroad until 1990 as well as by the exiled Czech publishing house Konfrontace in Zurich. He lived in Baden Baden and Paris.   After 1990 his works include To na tobě doschne ("It Will Get Dry on You," 1991); Prosím tě, neblázni ("I Beg You, Don't Be Crazy," 1992); Číslo do nebe ("Number to the Heaven," 1994); these appeared together in Prague as Má rodina a jiná zemětřesení ("My Family and Other Earthquakes," 1998). He also published Rodinný sjezd ("The Family Reunion," 1996, 2000); Muž za vlastním rohem ("The Man behind the Corner," 1999); and Medová léta ("Honey Years," 2001). (Milos Pojar (2nd ed.)