Monika MacDonagh-Pajerová is currently the chairperson of the pro-European organization ANO pro Evropu (YES for Europe) and lecturer at NYU in Prague.[1] During the 1989 Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia, Pajerová served as the official spokesperson for University Strike Committee and was a founding member of the Civic Forum. Before the Revolution she was editor of a student newspaper which promoted actions against the regime and an organizer of an influential debating forum. She was part of the small group of students which organized the event on November 17 which marked the beginning of the Revolution.
Following 1989 she was a diplomat, serving at different times in the Czechoslovak embassy in Paris, member of the Minister's private office and official spokesperson for the Ministry (Director of the Press Department). She spent four years as principal official responsible for cultural matters in the Council of Europe for four years. Subsequently she presented programmes on European affairs on Czech television and Czech radio.[2]
During the 2003 Czech referendum on accession to the European Union she headed the principal Yes campaign.
Perceived as politically close to Václav Havel, she is a regular critic of current Czech President Václav Klaus, political corruption and cooperation with the unreformed Communist Party.
Born in January 1966 in Janov, Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic), Děčín district to photographer father Ota Pajer. She was awarded masters and doctoral degrees from the Charles University, Prague specializing in literature. She has edited and contributed to various books on art, the Velvet Revolution and Europe. In 2000 she received a national book prize for a work with Czech Artist Jiří Kolář. Her sister, Kateřina Jacques is a former deputy chairperson of the Green Party and former member of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Parliament.[1]
She is married and has two children.