Jan Šolc: Life in Liberec
- Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
- When: January 30, 2019, 16:00 – 18:00
Presentation of Žít V Liberci (To Live in Liberec) a memoir by Jan Šolc, who was a colleague and advisor of Václav Havel’s, a spokesperson for Civic Forum and a Federal Assembly deputy and has lived in the city since 1945. As a teacher, mentor and discussion partner, he is most familiar with the young generation.
In his book he explores key milestones in Czechoslovak history, including the expulsion of the Germans and the period of Czechoslovak Stalinism, and describes coercion exerted by the military counterintelligence and the persecution he himself suffered after 1968, as well as the enormous political and social changes that followed November 1989. He also remembers Václav Havel. “Two years before his death I heard him lamenting as to whether it had been at all worth bringing back democracy. He was worn out, browned off and tired. Nobody knows what it means to be president after 42 years of repression,” Šolc says of his friend.
The publication of the memoir of the Liberec philosopher, man of letters and political activist Jan Šolc will be celebrated by the author and his friends, students and colleagues. Invited guests include Jan Kačer, Martin Vidlák, Libor Prudký, Michael Kocáb and Petr Pithart.
VHL director Michael Žantovský will serve as host.