Zdeněk Hapala "Kopecký"

Zdeněk Hapala "Kopecký" (March 25, 1905 – June 23, 1971) 

He came from Místek, where he was a teacher and amateur puppeteer. After the German occupation, he went to Poland, where he joined the newly formed Czechoslovak unit. After the invasion of Poland, he retreated to the Soviet Union with part of the Czechoslovak Legion; there he was interned. In July 1940, he went to the Czechoslovak unit in the Middle East in one of the transports. There, he was assigned to the 1st and later to the 4th Company of the Czechoslovak Infantry Regiment 4 – East, and, from March 1941 until the end of the war, he served with the Czechoslovak Military Mission to the Balkans, Near and Middle East in Jerusalem. He was a Czechoslovak radio broadcaster and founded a travelling puppet theatre called "Bajka", which was based in the consulate building in Jerusalem but performed for Allied soldiers throughout the Middle East. With the departure of Czechoslovak troops to Great Britain, the theatre closed down.

After returning from the war, Zdeněk Hapala worked in the Czechoslovak state film, was a designer and director of the puppet stage of the Těšín Theatre, between 1953 and 1956 he was the director of the Regional Puppet Theatre in Ostrava, and also worked for Czech Television. He is still considered the founder of puppetry in Silesia.