The outstanding Czech writer, one of the pillars of European modernism, Richard Weiner, appears before the Russian reader for the first time. It was Weiner who “discovered” surrealism in 1924. But during his lifetime, his work was not particularly known to a wide audience, although such a major literary authority as F. K. Shalda noted the extraordinary talent of the Czech writer at the very beginning of his creative career. However, after Weiner’s death, his writing received full recognition. In the 1960s, many separate editions were published, and in the 1990s, the complete collection of his works began to appear. Weiner lived and wrote in Paris, the atmosphere of which could not but influence his work. The main theme of Weiner's works - the theme of loss of personality - is not just a tribute to the times, but a constant reason for creativity. The storytelling never appears as direct, but turns out to be secondary. The time has come for the Russian reader to get acquainted with this “great stranger,” which will be helped by the wonderful translations of N. Ya. Falkovskaya and I. G. Bezrukova.