Mářa's Memories ● At Janáčeks ● written by Marie Trkanová, based on the stories of Marie Stejskalová, housekeeper in Leoš Janáček's family

The memoirs of Marie Stejskalová, a long-time housekeeper in the family of Leoš Janáček, were written in the late 1950s by publicist Marie Trkanová based on her stories. The book, titled At the Janáčeks', was first published in 1959, then twice more in 1962 and 1998, and each time it was well received and popular with readers, not just Janáček music lovers. The energetic Mářa worked for the Janáček family for more than forty years and thus experienced firsthand the joys and sorrows of their family life.

The impetus for the new, fourth edition of Mářa's memoirs was not only the fact that the book had long since been disassembled, but also the fact that the Leoš Janáček Archive had some time ago received a typescript of the text as Marie Trkanová had originally written it according to Mářa's narrative, without the edits and cuts made before the first edition. The change is partially reflected in the literary style. The original text is simpler and more representative of Mářas central, authentic narrative, which is sometimes quite funny, but at the same time very sad, for example, in the chapter devoted to the short life of Olga, the beloved daughter of the Janáček family. Like the recently published Mářa's Cookbook, this book also contains numerous editorial notes, some of which are taken from previous editions, as well as illustrations of scenes from the life of the Janáček family made by artist Vendula Chalánková based on Mářa's memoirs. In addition, the book contains numerous photographs from the Leoš Janáček Archive and short medallions of the personalities mentioned in the text.

Published by TIC BRNO and the Moravian Museum
The publication was financially supported by the Leoš Janáček Foundation.

ISBN 978-80-88313-42-7

You can see a preview of the book here:

https://issuu.com/ticmb/docs/issue_mariny-pameti?fr=sYjJiZTYxNDkxNDI