Slavoboj Tusar (1885-1950)
Born in Czechoslovakia, Slavoboj Tusar worked in advertising and graphic design. He was a well-known member of Prague's literary community during the 1920s and 30s.
He created only one typeface, Tusarova Antikva, which was produced in 1924-5 for the book "Wiener's Boulevard", and exhibited at the Exposition des artes decoratifs in Paris, France. After the book was printed the metal alphabet was destroyed - deliberately destroying the letters was commonplace during this time. He was unsatisfied with this first version of the typeface and reworked it; the second version was released by Lanston-Monotype. It was the first Czech typeface to be produced by Monotype for its typesetting machines.
He died aged 54. Since his death, there has been some interest in reviving his work and that of his contemporaries.
[LC, January 2010]
