František Marek

Biographical information

RolesCompeted in Olympic Games
SexMale
Full nameFrantišek•Marek
Used nameFrantišek•Marek
Born26 November 1899 in Borovnice, Jihočeský kraj (CZE)
Died18 July 1971 in Praha (Prague), Hlavní město Praha (CZE)
NOC Czechoslovakia

Biography

Czechoslovakian architect František Marek received an Honorable Mention at the 1948 London Olympics in the Art Competitions in the category Architectural Design for his work Photographs and Plans of “Gymnasium for Sokols, Prague XII.” In 1936, the Sokol Association of Praha’s Vinohrady District announced a competition for a sports hall, which was won by architects František Marek and Václav Vejrych. To save costs, the building was reduced by one floor. Construction began in 1938. In 1941, the German occupiers completed the complex in order to use it as a sports center and SS hospital. In 1991, the building, an example of the functionalism in the time between the world wars, was returned to the Sokol. It is still one of the largest of its kind and houses a large hall, two small pitches with artificial turf, a swimming pool and other smaller halls.

Marek was initially trained as a mason and later studied at the Praha Academy of Fine Arts from 1922-26. His most famous work was the War Memorial in Lidiče, where in 1942, after the assassination of the head of the Reich Security Main Office Reinhard Heydrich, all male residents were shot by the SS in retaliation, and the village was razed to the ground. Marek was among the leading members of the Association of Fine Artists and mostly built in Praha, mostly theaters and banks.

Results

Games Discipline (Sport) / Event NOC / Team Pos Medal As
1948 Summer Olympics Art Competitions TCH František Marek
Architecture, Architectural Designs, Open (Olympic) HM