Czechs in the United Kingdom () refers to the phenomenon of

Czech people The Czechs (, ; singular Czech, masculine: ''Čech'' , singular feminine: ''Češka'' ), or the Czech people (), are a West Slavic ethnic group and a nation native to the Czech Republic in Central Europe, who share a common ancestry, culture, ...

migrating to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

from the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

or from the political entities that preceded it, such as

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 ...

. There are some people in the UK who were either born in the Czech lands or have Czech ancestry, some of whom descended from Jewish refugees (e.g.

Kindertransport The ''Kindertransport'' (German for "children's transport") was an organised rescue effort of children from Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, total ...

) who arrived during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Population

The

2001 UK Census A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194. The 2001 UK census was organised by the Office for National ...

recorded 12,220 Czech-born people resident in the UK. With the accession of the Czech Republic to the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

in May 2004, Czechs gained the right to live and work elsewhere in the EU, and large numbers moved to the UK for work, although there has been substantial return migration. The

Office for National Statistics The Office for National Statistics (ONS; ) is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, UK Parliament. Overview The ONS is responsible fo ...

estimates that 45,000 Czech-born immigrants were resident in the UK in 2013. Figure given is the central estimate. See the source for 95 per cent confidence intervals. The

2011 UK Census A census of the population of the United Kingdom is taken every ten years. The 2011 census was held in all countries of the UK on 27 March 2011. It was the first UK census which could be completed online via the Internet. The Office for National ...

recorded 34,615 Czech-born residents in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, 1,256 in

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, 2,245 in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, and 662 in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. The figure for Scotland includes people who specified that they were born in Czechoslovakia, but the figures for England, Wales and Northern Ireland do not. 1,279 people in England, 39 in Wales and 16 in Northern Ireland are recorded as having been born in Czechoslovakia without specifying the Czech Republic or Slovakia.

Notable people with Czech ancestry

Milan Baroš Milan Baroš (; born 28 October 1981) is a Czech former professional footballer who played as a forward. In 2005, he was part of the Liverpool team which won the UEFA Champions League. He went on to win Ligue 1 with Lyon in 2007, the FA Cup w ...

, footballer *

Roman Bednář Roman Bednář (born 26 March 1983) is a Czech Republic, Czech association football, football coach and former player. Club career Czech Republic Born in Prague, Bednář started his career as a youth player at ČAFC Prague before he stepped u ...

, footballer *

Patrik Berger Patrik Berger (; born 10 November 1973) is a Czech former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He started his career in his own country with Slavia Prague and spent a season in Germany playing for Borussia Dortmund. He moved to ...

, footballer *

Georgina Bouzova Georgina Bouzová (born 1 June 1976) is a British television actress from Surrey, England, best known for her former role as Ellen Zitek in the BBC One medical drama ''Casualty''. Previously, Bouzová had a number of minor television roles incl ...

, actress *

Alf Dubs, Baron Dubs Alfred Dubs, Baron Dubs (born 5 December 1932) is a British Labour Party politician and former Member of Parliament. On 27 September 1994, he was appointed as a Labour life peer with the title of Baron Dubs, ''of Battersea in the London Borou ...

, politician *

Petr Čech Petr Čech (; born 20 May 1982) is a Czech former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper and current ice hockey player who plays as a goaltender for Oxford City Stars. He has ...

, footballer *

Josef Franc Josef Franc (born 18 January 1979) is a Czech former international motorcycle racer who competed in Grasstrack, Longtrack and motorcycle speedway. He earned 8 international caps for the Czech Republic national speedway team Career In 2001, Fr ...

, motorcycle speedway rider * Vera Fusek, actress * Elsbeth Hamilton,

Women's Auxiliary Air Force The Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF), whose members were referred to as WAAFs (), was the female auxiliary of the British Royal Air Force during the World War II, Second World War. Established in 1939, WAAF numbers exceeded 181,000 at its peak ...

veteran, last known surviving Czechoslovak veteran of World War II in the United Kingdom * Eva Hayman, Holocaust survivor, diarist and nurse *

Anna Hájková Anna Hájková (born 1978) is a Czech-British historian who is currently a faculty member at the University of Warwick. She specializes in the study of everyday life during the Holocaust and sexuality and the Holocaust. According to Hájková, "M ...

, historian *

Eva Jiřičná Eva Jiřičná (born 3 March 1939) is a Czech architect and designer, active in London and Prague. She is the founder of the architectural atelier ''Eva Jiricna Architects'', operating in Britain (at first as ''Jiřičná Kerr Associates'') from ...

, architect *

Jan Kaplický Jan Kaplický (; ; 18 April 1937 – 14 January 2009) was a Neofuturistic Czech architect who spent a significant part of his life in the United Kingdom. He was the leading architect behind the innovative design office, Future Systems. He was b ...

, architect *

Jan Kavan Jan Kavan (born 17 October 1946) is a former Czech politician and diplomat. Biography Kavan was born in London as the son of a Czechoslovak diplomat, Pavel Kavan, and a British teacher, Rosemary Kavanová. Kavan moved back to Czechoslovakia ...

, diplomat and politician *

Čeněk Kottnauer Čeněk Kottnauer (24 February 1910, Prague – 14 February 1996, London) was a Czech British chess master, earning the title of International Master. At the beginning of his career, he tied for 11-12th at Prague 1933 (''Kautsky Memorial'', Ka ...

, chess master * Karel Kuttelwascher, fighter pilot * Sir Frank William Lampl, Life President of

Bovis Lend Lease Lendlease is an Australian multinational construction and real estate company, headquartered in Barangaroo, Sydney, New South Wales. History Founding The company was established as Lendlease by Dick Dusseldorp in 1958 to provide finance for ...

* Miroslav Liskutin, fighter pilot WW2 *

Herbert Lom Herbert Charles Angelo Kuchačevič ze Schluderpacheru (11 September 1917 – 27 September 2012), known professionally as Herbert Lom (), was a Czech-British actor with a career spanning over 60 years. His cool demeanour and precise, elegan ...

, actor *

Dan Luger Daniel Darko Luger MBE (born 11 January 1975) is a former English rugby union international who was a member of the squad that won the 2003 Rugby World Cup. Rugby career Club career Dan Luger was born in Chiswick and is the son of a Croa ...

, English

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player *

Ivan Margolius Ivan Margolius (born 27 February 1947) is an author, architect and propagator of Czech culture and technology. Life Margolius was born in Prague, son of JUDr Rudolf Margolius, Deputy Minister for Foreign Trade, and Heda Margolius Kovály, Cze ...

, author, architect and propagator of Czech culture and technology *

Jan Pinkava Jan Jaroslav Pinkava (born 21 June 1963) is a Czech-British-American producer, director, writer, and animator. He directed the Pixar short film '' Geri's Game'' and served as co-director and co-wrote the story for ''Ratatouille'', both of which ...

, animator, film director * Hana Maria Pravda, actress *

Dominic Raab Dominic Rennie Raab ( ; born 25 February 1974) is a British former politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Justice Secretary and Lord Chancellor from September 2021 to September 2022 and again from October 2022 to ...

, politician *

Karel Reisz Karel Reisz (21 July 1926 – 25 November 2002) was a Czech-born British filmmaker and film critic, one of the pioneers of the new realist strain in British cinema during the 1950s and 1960s. Two of the best-known films he directed are '' Satur ...

, film director *

Tom Stoppard Sir Tom Stoppard (; born , 3 July 1937) is a Czech-born British playwright and screenwriter. He has written for film, radio, stage, and television, finding prominence with plays. His work covers the themes of human rights, censorship, and politi ...

, screenwriter, playwright

References

External links

www.pohyby.co.uk - Czech and Slovak community portal in the UK - more than 24000 members

Czech and Slovak Club in London

British Czech and Slovak Association

Czech Centre London

Czech Radio London

European diaspora in the United Kingdom * Czech Republic–United Kingdom relations {{Europe-ethno-group-stub

Population

Notable people with Czech ancestry

See also

References

External links