Few pleased generations of inquisitive children more than did Zdeněk Burian. This illustrator of many books recorded scenes from the stories of Karl May, Jack London, Eduard Storch, Jaroslav Foglar or Jules Verne. A masterpiece of this native of Kopřivnice was his book of extinct dinosaurs and prehistoric animals which was created along with the paleologist Josef Augusta.
Zdeněk Burian was born in 1905 in Kopřivnice and died in Prague in 1981. His artistic talent was already noticeable at elementary school and at the age of 14 was accepted into the Academy of Fine Arts on the recommendation of Max Švabinský, and straight into the second year. He did not finish his studies because he was so busy with illustrations of books and magazines that became his livelihood.
His favorite subject was prehistory, in which he captured the life of men hunting prehistoric animals. His final piece of work, that he was not able to finish, was a canvas for the zoo in Dvur Kralove.
This native of Kopřivnice has his own museum in the nearby town of Štramberk where he lived for many years. His work is influenced by the local cave jeskyně Šipka (Arrow), in which prehistoric people and animals lived which are described in the works that he painted.