Bed?ich Frydrych Smetana (Czech: Bed?ich Frydrych Smetana, MFA: [?b?dr??x frydryx ?sm?tana] ( listen); March 2, 1824, Litomysl - May 12, 1884, Prague[5]) was a Czech composer. The main works are the opera "Broken Bride" (Czech: Prodaná nev?sta), a cycle of six symphonic poems "My Motherland" (Czech: Má vlast).

He was born in Litomysl. His father Frantz (Frantishek) Smetana (October 26, 1777, Sadova - June 12, 1857, Nove Misto nad Metui) trained as a brewer, his mother Barbora Linkova (1791, Mylidene - November 20, 1864, Mlada Boleslav)[6] had good musical talents. At the age of five, the son was sent to study with a local teacher Jan Khmelik - he played the piano and violin. Then he started writing music. After graduating from elementary school, he prematurely entered the gymnasium in the city of Nemetskyi Brid. Smetana finished his education in the West Bohemian town of Pilsen.

In October 1843, he moved to Prague and entered the music school of the talented pianist Josef Proksh. During his studies, he attended concerts by Ferenc Liszt, Moscheles, Sigismund Thalberg, Clara Schumann. He wrote mainly piano works. He finished his studies at the Proksh school in 1846 with the G minor piano sonata.

In the summer of 1848, he opened a private music school.

On August 27, 1849, he married his old love, Kateryzhina Kolarzhova (March 5, 1827, Klatovy - April 19, 1859, Dresden)[7], later they gave birth to 4 daughters (three died). From 1856 to 1861, he lived in the Swedish city of Gothenburg, where he continued to compose music. He returned to the Czech Republic in 1859. Then his first wife died. During his stay in the Czech Republic, he often visited Obrzeist, where in 1860 he married Barbora "Betty" Ferdinandova (November 9, 1840, Chorni Budy - December 14, 1908, Luha?ovice) for the second time. A year later he returned to Sweden. Subsequently, he applied for admission to the Prague Conservatory, but was unable to do so due to financial problems.

However, the success was not long in coming with the operas "Brandenburgers in Bohemia" (Czech: Branibo?i v ?echách) and "Broken Bride" (Czech: Prodaná nev?sta). Subsequently, he received the award for the best Czech opera ("The Brandenburgers in Bohemia"). Serious success came with the opera "Broken Bride". Thanks to such great success, in 1866 he became the conductor of the theater orchestra.

In the summer of 1874, he stopped hearing in his right ear, and at the end of his life mental disorders were added. On April 22, 1884, he was transferred to the Institute for the Mentally Ill in Prague on Vinogradech, where he died on May 12, 1884.[8]