About
Vilém Kužel was born in Brno in 1949. He was a pupil of his father, Vilém Kužel Sr., who had trained with the Brno violin maker Karel Goll, and so continued a centuries-old tradition of Brno violin making going back to 1761 – Kleinhans, Wutzelhofer, Hentschel.
He made new violins and violas, mostly on the Guarneri del Gesù model, and repaired old master instruments. He took part with notable success in many international violin making competitions, later also as a juror. He has been a member of the Circle of Czech Master Violinmakers since 1973.
He trained his son Jan, with whom he worked in the workshop in Kopečná Street in Brno until the end of 2001. Having retired, he has closed his workshop and refers those interested in instruments and repairs to his son’s workshop at Čajkovského 39 in Brno-Žabovřesky.