Ivan Medek

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Ivan Medek

Ivan Medek (born July 13, 1925 in Prague ; † January 6, 2010 ibid) was a Czech music theorist , music critic , radio presenter and journalist . Medek was one of the loudest members of the Czechoslovak dissident movement , especially after his expatriation from communist Czechoslovakia in 1978. Medek worked closely with like-minded colleagues such as the writer Václav Havel and the conductor Václav Talich . He belonged to the Czech Chamber Orchestra and worked for the Czech Philharmonic.

Life

He is the son of the officer Rudolf Medek and grandson of the Czech painter Antonín Slavíček (1870-1910). Ivan grew up in the Karlín district of Prague , where he attended elementary school.

He then attended the Prague Academic Gymnasium (four years) and the Prague Conservatory , which he had to leave after the February coup in 1948. In the 1950s, he had to serve a three-month prison sentence, to which he had been sentenced for participating in alleged money pushing after he had not been recruited by the StB secret service .

After completing his musical education, he began his career as a journalist and critic for classical music . He worked for the Czech Philharmonic in Prague until he was dismissed by the Communist Ministry of Culture for his oppositional stance. In 1969 he was banned from working in public.

Medek was one of the first to sign the Charter 77 . In January 1977 , the music publisher Supraphon immediately gave notice . He then worked as a nurse in a Prague hospital (Na Františku), after a further discharge (again for political reasons) as a dishwasher and cloakroom in the Pod Kinskou restaurant .

After a series of interrogations and an attack on his person by the State Security (StB), he was forced to take exile in Austria at the beginning of 1978 .

In Vienna he became a correspondent for Voice of America , where he moderated the Czech-language program. These radio broadcasts became an important link with the like-minded people who remained in the ČSSR. He also worked for Radio Free Europe and other radio stations such as the BBC , Deutsche Welle , and Radio Vatican . Through his diverse personal relationships in Vienna, Medek helped the Czechoslovak dissident movement to become well known in Western Europe.

During the Velvet Revolution in late autumn 1989, Medek returned to Prague from exile. Medek became an advisor to the Czech Philharmonic, advisor to the Czechoslovak Minister of Culture and chairman of the Federal Radio and Television Council.

From 1993 to 1998 Ivan Medek worked in the presidential office of the first President of the Czech Republic , Václav Havel , initially as head of the domestic affairs department, and from 1996 as chancellor.

In 1999 Medek ran for the Czech Senate , but was defeated in the Prague constituency against the tourism entrepreneur Václav Fischer .

Since then, Medek has been involved in the Catholic lay organization Opus bonum and became its president in 1999 after the death of its founder Anastáz Opasek .

Ivan Medek died in Prague on January 6, 2010 at the age of 84. He leaves behind his wife, Helena.

Honors

Medek has been a holder of the Masaryk Order 3rd class since 1991. In 1999 he received the Medal of Merit (medaile Za zásluhy) . In 2008 Medek received the prestigious Czech journalist award "Cena Ferdinanda Peroutky" ( Ferdinand Peroutka Prize).

Works

  • Děkuji, mám se výborně , Torst 2005 (Thank you, I'm doing very well)
  • Jak to vidím , Vyšehrad 2003 (As I see it)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f Former Czech Chancellor Ivan Medek Dies at 84 . In: Associated Press , New York Times , January 6, 2010. Retrieved January 5, 2010. 
  2. ↑ a b c d e Chris Johnstone: Legendary Czech broadcaster Ivan Medek remembered . In: Radio Praha , January 7, 2010. 
  3. ↑ a b Ceny Ferdinanda Peroutky znají své držitele, online www.ct24.cz/kultura , accessed on January 9, 2010
  4. ↑ a b c d e Zemřel někdejší Havlův kancler Ivan Medek . In: ČTK , České noviny, January 6, 2010. Retrieved January 8, 2010. 
  5. ↑ http://neviditelnypes.lidovky.cz/osobnost-opustil-nas-ivan-medek-dny-/p_spolecnost.asp?c=A100106_163846_p_spolecnost_wag
personal data
SURNAME Medek, Ivan
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Czech music theorist, music critic, radio presenter and journalist
DATE OF BIRTH July 13, 1925
PLACE OF BIRTH Prague
DATE OF DEATH January 6, 2010
Place of death Prague