Jiří Gruša

Jiří Gruša (10 November 1938, Pardubice - 28 October 2011, Hannover[1] ) was a Czech poet, novelist, translator, diplomat and politician.[2]

Contents

Biography

Gruša was born in Pardubice, Bohemia (Czech Republic), and later moved to Prague.[2] 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 after becoming a Charta 77 signatory[2] and had to work in a construction cooperative. He took part in distribution of samizdat literature. He was arrested in 1974 for "the crime of initiating disorder" after distributing nineteen copies of his first novel, Dotazník (The Questionnaire) and voicing his intention to have it published in Switzerland.[3] After world-wide protest, he was released after two months.[3] In 1981 his citizenship was revoked,[3] and between 1982 and 1990 he lived in the Federal Republic of Germany.[4]

In 1990 conditions in Czechoslovakia became more favorable and he returned to work for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. From 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. Even though Gruša was a non-party minister, he was replaced by Jan Sokol. He served as an ambassador to Austria until 2004.[5] From 2005 to 2009 he was Director of the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna. From 2004 to 2009 he was the President of International PEN.[5]

Gruša participated in standardisation of the term "Tschechien" as the official name of the Czech Republic in German language. See Name of the Czech Republic for overview.

Awards and honors

Works

English translated

Czech language

References

  1. ^ Schriftsteller und Politiker Jiri Grusa gestorben, Der Standard, 28.10.11
  2. ^ a b c d e f Jiří Gruša (1938-2011), Stephan Delbos, October 31, 2011, The Prague Post Book Blog
  3. ^ a b c "Interview with Jirí Grusa", Context N°17, Daily Archive Press
  4. ^ "Jiří Gruša" (in Czech). Festival spisovatelů Praha. http://www.pwf.cz/cz/archiv-autoru/jiri-grusa/. Retrieved 1 February 2010. 
  5. ^ a b Horáková, Pavla (12 December 2003). "Jiri Grusa on his plans as PEN Club President". Czech Radio. http://www.radio.cz/en/article/48436. Retrieved 1 February 2010. 

External links

Ministers of Education, Youth and Sport of the Czech Republic
Piťha · Pilip · Gruša · Sokol · Zeman · Buzková · Kopicová · Kuchtová · Liška · Kopicová · Dobeš