Oscar-winning Czech director Jiri Menzel dies at 82

Jiri Menzel won the Academy Award for the best foreign language film with "Closely Watched Trains", a World War II drama, in 1967. Credit: Reuters File Photo

Oscar-winning Czech film director Jiri Menzel has died aged 82 after battling serious health problems for a long time, his wife Olga Menzelova said on Sunday.

"Our dear Jiri, the bravest of the brave. Your body left our mundane world in our arms last night," she wrote on Facebook.

Menzel won the Academy Award for the best foreign language film with "Closely Watched Trains", a World War II drama, in 1967.