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Current AffairsWeek of Charter 77 marks 35-year-anniversary of the anti-communist human rights manifesto
This week marks the 35-year-anniversary of the founding of Charter 77, an
informal civic initiative against the communist regime. Many of its
signatories would later become important figures in post-communist Czech
society, such as philosopher and playwright Václav Havel, who was elected
the country’s first president after the revolution. Now, the anniversary
of the charter is being honored in Prague with a week-long commemoration,
the Week of Charter 77. More
MailboxMailbox
This month in Mailbox we read from your letters of condolence on the death
in December of the former president Václav Havel, we read from your
feedback regarding Radio Prague's programmes and we quote from your answers
to January's mystery Czech quiz question. Listeners/readers: Michael
Fanderys, Jayanta Chakrabarty, Stephen Hrebenach, Steve Olear, Hans Verner
Lollike, Mary Lou Krenek, Jaroslaw Jedrzejczak, Charles Konecny, Vladimir
Gudzenko, Colin Law. More
From the ArchivesPaul Robeson in Prague: paying homage to Dvořák and socialism
In last week’s From the Archives we featured Martin Luther King,
interviewed by Czechoslovak Radio in 1963. But Dr King was not the first
civil rights campaigner to address Czech and Slovak radio listeners. Four
years earlier, in June 1959, Paul Robeson came to Prague, to take part in
an international left-wing cultural congress. Robeson was a man of many
talents – singer, actor, athlete, writer and civil rights activist. He
never concealed his sympathies with the communist regimes of the Eastern
Bloc, and his political views – combined with the colour of his skin –
earned him virtual pariah status in many sections of the US political
establishment. This culminated in 1950 when he was refused a passport. More
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