Edvard Valenta (January 22, 1901 in Prostějov – August 21, 1978 in Prague) was a Czech journalist and writer. Valenta was born into a family of a medical doctor. After secondary school (finished in 1918) he started to study at a technical university but left soon for the work of journalist. In 1920 Valenta joined the Brno office of the newspaper Lidové noviny and stayed here until February 1948 when he was purged away by the new communist regime. In December 1948 Valenta was taken into custody and in July 1949 given a short sentence. Although imprisoned for relatively short time his health has deteriorated. Valenta was allowed to publish again during period of cultural liberalisation.