Josef Lada (born 17th December, 1887 in Hrusice - 14th December, 1957 in Prague, buried at Olšany graveyard) was Czech painter.

He is most known as illustrator of Jaroslav Hašek's World War One novel The Good Soldier Švejk. He produced over 1500 cartoons of the Švejk characters, depicting Austrian officers as incompetent and often drunk. All the subsequent illustrations of Švejk followed Lada's style.

Born in the small town of Hrusice in a cobbler's family, he went to Prague at the age of 14 to become an apprentice binder. He loved to draw and paint. Entirely self-taught, he created his own style as a caricaturist for newspapers, and later as an illustrator. He wrote and illustrated the adventures of Mikeš, a little black cat who could talk.

Lada produced landscapes, created frescoes and designed costumes for plays and films. Over the years he created a series of paintings and drawings depicting traditional Czech occupations.

External links

• Biography (in Czech)
• Webpage of Josef Lada museum in Hrusice