Jiří Gruša

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Jiří Gruša (b. April 10, 1938, Pardubice) is a Czech poet, writer, translator, diplomat and politician.

He graduated from the Philosophical Faculty of Charles University in Prague. He worked for periodicals Tvář, Sešity and Nové knihy. In 1968, he was banned from publishing and had to work in a construction cooperative. He took part in distribution of samizdat literature. Between 1982 and 1990, he lived in the Federal Republic of Germany. In 1990, he returned to Czechoslovakia and worked for the Ministry of foreign affairs. In 1991–1997, he served as an ambassador to Germany. Later he joined the minority government of Václav Klaus as a Minister of Education. The government lost support of the opposition parties and President Václav Havel orchestrated establishment of a new caretaker government. Event though Gruša was a non-party minister, he was replaced by Jan Sokol. He served as an ambassador to Austria. Currently, he is the President of International PEN and Director of the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna.

He participated in standardization of the term "Tschechien" as the official name of the Czech Republic in German language. See Names of the Czech Republic for overview.