ALPHONSE MUCHA

Alphonse Mucha (Alfons Maria Mucha) (1860-1939).

The rising tide of fascism during the late 1930s resulted in Mucha’s works and his Slavic nationalism being denounced in the press as ‘reactionary’. Mucha’s Slav nationalism and Jewish roots made him a primary target of the Gestapo during Nazi occupation. When German troops moved into Czechoslovakia during the spring of 1939, Mucha was among the first persons to be arrested by the Gestapo. During his interrogation, the aging artist became ill with pneumonia. Though released eventually, he may have been weakened by this event. He died in Prague on 14 July 1939, due to lung infection, and was interred there in the Vyšehrad cemetery.

KAITLIN KEOGH

Kaitlin Keogh (b. 1982).