Karel Capek
1890-1938

Karel Čapek was one of the most influential Czech writers of the 20th century. He introduced and made popular the frequently used international word robot, which first appeared in his play R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots) in 1921. Karel credited his brother, Josef Čapek, as the true inventor of the word robot.

Čapek was born in Malé Svatoňovice, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary (now Czech Republic). A scene from the play, including 2 robots, is shown below