I didn’t spare the apprentices and today they come to thank me for preparing them for the forest
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Josef Mrňák was born on 4 May 1934 in Hatě in the Kolín district, where he lived with his parents and older brother until he was 15. After finishing elementary school in Uhlířské Janovice, he started working as an assistant forester and in the autumn of 1949 he joined the newly founded forestry apprenticeship in Jizerka in the Jizera Mountains. After his apprenticeship, he continued his studies at the secondary forestry school in Bělá pod Bezdězem and in Písek, where he graduated in 1954. After graduation, he joined the military forests for a short time, but soon the war awaited him. He served in air defence as a radio operator and played the trumpet with his colleagues in an army music ensemble. At the end of 1956 he returned to the military forests in the Mariánské Lázně region. In 1958 he visited Hejnice during his leave and was offered by the director of the forestry school to become his deputy and master of training. After accepting the job offer, he settled in Hejnice with his first wife Eva. He completed his pedagogical education and worked at the apprenticeship until his retirement. From his youth he collected pieces of wood from trees and bushes and devoted himself to painting and drawing. Since the early 1980s he has been making original wooden jewellery. A decade later he began selling them at craft markets across the country. In 2010, his jewellery was awarded the Regional Product of the Jizera Mountains certificate. In 2014, he received the Master of Traditional Handicraft Production of the Liberec Region award. At the time of filming, his collection consisted of 460 species of wood from all over the world. In September 2024 he lived with his second wife Jana in Hejnice.
