Jan Slavík, Banned Historian

Jan Slavík (1885–1978), an idiosyncratic historian who was one of the outstanding figures in Czech historiography of the interwar period, was defined by his critical attitude toward the political situation, a stance that brought hardships. The 140th anniversary of Slavík’s birth also offers a reminder of the tangled paths of both Czech historiography and his work; like him, it was blacklisted during the former regime (even though it could not be published for being “Bolshevik” during the German occupation). Debate participants: Jaroslav Bouček, Martin Kučera, Jakub Rákosník, David Svoboda. Historian Michal Macháček will moderate.