Ľubomír Feldek (* 9 October 1936,

Žilina Žilina (; ; ; ; Names of European cities in different languages: U-Z#Z, names in other languages) is a city in north-western Slovakia, around from the capital Bratislava, close to both the Czech and Polish borders. It is the List of cities ...

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

) is a Slovak poet, writer, playwright, and translator. He is married to Oľga Feldeková. Feldek is the author of several books of poetry (''Kriedový kruh'', ''Paracelsus'', and ''Milovanie pred usnutím''), the novel ''Van Stiphout'', and several plays including ''Teta na zjedenie'' or ''Jánošík podľa Vivaldiho''. He translates works of modern world poets (

Alexander Blok Alexander Alexandrovich Blok ( rus, Алекса́ндр Алекса́ндрович Бло́к, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr ɐlʲɪˈksandrəvʲɪtɕ ˈblok, a=Ru-Alyeksandr Alyeksandrovich Blok.oga; 7 August 1921) was a Russian lyrical poet, writer, publ ...

Vladimir Mayakovsky Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky ( – 14 April 1930) was a Russian poet, playwright, artist, and actor. During his early, Russian Revolution, pre-Revolution period leading into 1917, Mayakovsky became renowned as a prominent figure of the Ru ...

, or

Guillaume Apollinaire Guillaume Apollinaire (; ; born Kostrowicki; 26 August 1880 – 9 November 1918) was a French poet, playwright, short story writer, novelist and art critic of Poland, Polish descent. Apollinaire is considered one of the foremost poets of the ...

) as well as classical plays (such as those by

Sophocles Sophocles ( 497/496 – winter 406/405 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. was an ancient Greek tragedian known as one of three from whom at least two plays have survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or contemporary with, those ...

and

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

). He has also written a couple of books for children, most notably the ''Modrá kniha rozprávok'' and ''Zelená kniha rozprávok'' illustrated by Albín Brunovský. According to the Index Translationum statistics, he is among the top ten most translated authors writing in Slovak. In January 1989 he protested against the arrest of

Václav Havel Václav Havel (; 5 October 193618 December 2011) was a Czech statesman, author, poet, playwright, and dissident. Havel served as the last List of presidents of Czechoslovakia, president of Czechoslovakia from 1989 until 1992, prior to the dissol ...

and signed a political manifesto ''A Couple of Sentences''. During the

Velvet Revolution The Velvet Revolution () or Gentle Revolution () was a non-violent transition of power in what was then Czechoslovakia, occurring from 17 November to 28 November 1989. Popular demonstrations against the one-party government of the Communist Pa ...

he closely cooperated with the movement Public Against Violence, which transformed itself into a political party later on.

Feldek vs. Slobodník and Feldek vs. Slovakia

In 1992, Feldek publicly noted that ''"Dušan Slobodník became Minister of Culture and his fascist past immediately came to light"'', referencing to his involvement in an SS training course as a teenager (at the age of 17) in Sekule at the time of the

First Slovak Republic First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

. The statement was published shortly after the appointment of a new Government, following the 1992 parliamentary elections, in which Slobodník became a minister. Feldek has also written the poem ''Dobrú noc, má milá'', containing the verse ''"esesák sa objal s eštébákom"'' (''an SS man gave a hug to an STB agent''), referencing to the disputed past of both Dušan Slobodník and Prime Minister

Vladimír Mečiar Vladimír Mečiar (; born 26 July 1942) is a Slovak former politician who served as the prime minister of Slovakia from June 1990 to May 1991, June 1992 to March 1994, and again from December 1994 to October 1998. He was the leader of the Movemen ...

. Slobodník sued him for defamation, and after losing at the Municipal Court in

Bratislava Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

, a senate consisting of three Supreme Court members voted in his favor. Feldek was obliged to apologize and pay 250,000 SKK. Although the senate of appeal of the Supreme Court abolished the financial penalty, Feldek's defendant

Ernest Valko Ernest Valko, JUDr., PhD. (10 August 1953 – 8 November 2010) was the former chairman of the Czechoslovak Constitutional Court and prominent Slovak lawyer. Valko was shot dead inside his home in Limbach in 2010. As of May 2011, the investigat ...

brought the case to the

European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The court hears applications alleging that a co ...

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

. In 2001, in the Feldek vs. Slovakia case, the court ruled that

freedom of speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The rights, right to freedom of expression has been r ...

was breached. Feldek was awarded damages amounting to 500,000 SKK. Feldek and his family moved to

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

in 1995, but he himself moved back to Bratislava several years later.

References

External links

Interview
'' the page includes information from Slovakia wikipedia article Ľubomír Feldek'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Feldek, Lubomir 1936 births Living people People from Žilina Slovak writers Slovak dramatists and playwrights