Jan Palach was a Czech student of history and political economics at Charles University in Prague. His self-immolation was a political protest against the end of the Prague Spring resulting from the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia by the Warsaw Pact armies.
Milada Horáková was a Czech politician and a member of the underground resistance movement during World War II. She was a victim of judicial murder,convicted and executed by the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia on fabricated charges of conspiracy and treason. Many prominent figures in the West,including Albert Einstein,Vincent Auriol,Eleanor Roosevelt and Winston Churchill,petitioned for her life.
Ryszard Siwiec was a Polish accountant and former Home Army resistance member who was the first person to commit suicide by self-immolation in protest against the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia. Although his act was captured by a motion picture camera,Polish press omitted any mention of the incident,which was successfully suppressed by the authorities. Siwiec prepared his plan alone,and few people realized what he tried to achieve with his sacrifice. His story remained mostly forgotten until the fall of communism,when it was first recounted in a documentary film by Polish director Maciej Drygas. Since then,Siwiec has been posthumously awarded a number of Czech,Slovak,and Polish honours and decorations.
Libuše Šafránková was a Czech actress. Her husband was actor Josef Abrhám.
Jan Palach Square is a town square in the Old Town of Prague. It is located on right bank of the Vltava River next to the former Jewish Quarter.
Evžen Plocek was a Czech man who committed suicide by self-immolation as a political protest. He is usually named together with Jan Palach and Jan Zajíc whose self-immolations were similar political protests as Plocek's,but his death did not bring the same attention as the death of his predecessors.
Libuše Domanínská was a Czech classical soprano who had a career in concert and opera from the 1940s through the 1970s. She was a leading member of the Brno National Theatre and later the Prague National Theatre where she sang a repertoire of 50 roles,especially as Janáček's Jenůfa,Káťa Kabanováand The Cunning Little Vixen. She was instrumental in making the composer's operas known internationally,both in recordings and guest appearances.
Anna Fárová was a Czech art historian who specialized and catalogued Czech and Czechoslovak photographers,including František Drtikol and Josef Sudek. She was one of the pioneers of writing on history of photography. Her publishing activities helped to establish photography as an art discipline within the country.
JiříDienstbier Jr. is a Czech politician,lawyer and the Senator for Kladno from 2011 to 2020,representing the Social Democratic Party (ČSSD). He previously served as Minister for Human Rights,Equal Opportunities and Legislation in Bohuslav Sobotka's cabinet,and at various points he has been Deputy Leader of ČSSD,a member of the Chamber of Deputies,and shadow minister of Justice. He was also the ČSSD candidate for the first direct presidential elections in the Czech Republic in 2013.
Burning Bush is a 2013 three-part miniseries created for HBO by Polish director Agnieszka Holland. Based on real characters and events,this haunting drama focuses on the personal sacrifice of a Prague history student,Jan Palach,who set himself on fire in 1969 in protest against the Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia in the previous year. Dagmar Burešová,a young female lawyer,became part of his legacy by defending Palach's family in a trial against the communist government,a regime which tried to dishonour Palach’s sacrifice,a heroic action for the freedom of Czechoslovakia.
Marie Magdalena Františka "Meda" Mládková was a Czech art collector. Her husband,Jan Viktor Mládek (1911–1989),was an economist and a governor of the IMF. Having spent several years in exile,she returned to Czechoslovakia after the Velvet Revolution of 1989.
Helena Válková is a Czech politician,university professor,and lawyer,specialising in criminal law and criminology. From January 2014 until March 2015 she was the Czech Minister of Justice in the government of Bohuslav Sobotka. She was elected to the Chamber of Deputies for ANO 2011,though she is now non-partisan. On 10 February 2015,Andrej Babiš,the leader of ANO 2011,announced that Válkováwill be replaced in the function by the lawyer Robert Pelikán. Válková's tenure ended on 1 March.
Ludmila Brožová-Polednová was a Czech state prosecutor sentenced at age 86 in September 2008 to six years' imprisonment for her participation in the show trials of Milada Horákováand others in 1950,which led to at least four executions.
Events from the year 2017 in the Czech Republic
An election of the President of the Senate of the Czech Republic was held on 16 December 1998. Libuše Benešováwas elected the new President,defeating the incumbent Petr Pithart.
Martin Kupka is a Czech politician who has been a member of the Chamber of Deputies (MP) since 2017. He currently serves as Minister of Transport in the Cabinet of Petr Fiala and previously served as mayor of Líbeznice.
Jan Palach is a Czech biographical film directed by Robert Sedláček. The film follows Jan Palach during 1968 and 1969 and shows the final 6 months of his life. The film premiered at UherskéHradištěSummer Film School.
Vladímir Príkazský was a Czech politician and journalist. He was a signatory of Charter 77.
Senate elections were held in the Czech Republic on 23 and 24 September 2022 alongside municipal elections. The election were won by the Spolu alliance consisting of the Civic Democratic Party (ODS),KDU-ČSL and TOP 09 which won 20 seats. The ODS was the most successful party,winning eight seats.
Events in the year 2023 in the Czech Republic.
