Winn Family Collection

Joseph Winn, born in 1901 as Josef Wiener in Podiebrad, Bohemia (today Poděbrady, Czech Republic), was a psychiatrist and a writer. He wrote short stories, aphorisms and commentaries mainly in a satirical and comical style under his pseudonym Alcantara. His works were published largely in “Lidové noviny,” “Tribuna” and “Dobrý den” (satirical biweekly magazine edited by Karel Poláček). Josef Wiener was also a friend and the physician of the members of the “Liberated Theater” Osvobozené Divadlo, a famous Czech avant-garde theatre (1926-1938).

Josef Wiener married Hanna (Hanka) Taussig, a daughter of the well-known Prague lawyer Oskar Taussig. In August 1939, the Wieners immigrated to the United States with their two daughters, Jana (Janet) and Marie. They changed their family name from Wiener to Winn, and Josef Wiener became Joseph A. Winn. The A stands for his literary pseudonym, Alcantara. Hanna Wiener became Joan Winn. Winn continued with his medical practice as well as with his writings. Joseph Winn died 1983 in New York.

Joseph Winn's mother was Alba ("Babicka") Wiener, and his sister was Marka Krajbich (married to Josef (Bobca) Krajbich). Her sons were Jirka and Ivan Krajbich. Winn's extended family included Elsa Reinisch, his cousin, and her mother Malva Oplatka, his aunt. They emigrated to Chicago in the 1920s. Another of Winn's aunts was Liduska Ruzickova, who was married to Herman Ruzicka (died 1944).

Oskar Taussig (1876-1938) was a well-known Prague lawyer and a cousin of the Czech writer Richard Weiner. He was married to Klara Taussig (died 1934). Their children were Hanna (nicknamed Hanka, later Joan Winn) and Jirina (who in 1926 married Pavel Eisner, later known as Paul Edwards). Julius Taussig (1862-1941) was Oskar's older brother, and their sisters were Hermina Kasparek (1871-1927), Pavla (1873-1943) and Kamila (1871-1927). Their mother was Julie née Meislova (1838-1913). Jiří Kašpárek (George Kasparek) was Oskar's nephew, worked for Taussig as a lawyer in his firm, and was also a friend of the Winns.

Richard Weiner was born in Pisek, today Písek, Czech Republic, on Nov. 6, 1884 and died Jan. 3, 1937. He graduated as a chemical engineer in 1906 from the University of Prague. After additional studies in Zurich and military service in Bohemia from 1907 to 1908, he decided on a career change and left for Paris to become a correspondent for the Prague newspaper 'Samostatnost'. He became a poet and writer and was called the “Czech Franz Kafka." Richard's brother was Kamil Weiner (1886-1960), who was married to Gusta Weiner (1902-1983). In the 1960s, Joan Winn tried to have the works of Richard Weiner published in the US. Today, Richard Weiner’s poems are not well known by the general public, but highly recognized by the literary critique.