Jan Tesař (2 June 1933 – 16 June 2025) was a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

historian and writer who was a dissident in the times of communist

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 ...

Life

Tesař was born on 2 June 1933 in

Skuteč Skuteč (; ) is a town in Chrudim District in the Pardubice Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 5,100 inhabitants. Administrative division Skuteč consists of 13 municipal parts (in brackets population according to the 2021 census): *Skut ...

. After having pursued studies in history at the Faculty of Arts of Charles University in

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 ...

, he joined the Military Historical Institute in 1956. Expelled from that institution in 1958 for political reasons, he spent two years without a steady position and worked as an independent researcher before finally obtaining a position at the Museum of

Pardubice Pardubice (; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 92,000 inhabitants. It is the capital city of the Pardubice Region and lies on the Elbe River. The historic centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Repub ...

. In 1961, he joined the Military Historical Institute once again. He became a member of the Communist Party in 1966 but resigned his membership in 1969. He was one of the founders of the

Committee for the Defense of the Unjustly Prosecuted The Committee for the Defense of the Unjustly Prosecuted (; as a result the acronym VONS is used) was a Czechoslovak dissident organization founded largely by Charter 77 signatories. VONS was founded on 27 April 1978. Founding and political aims ...

(VONS), a signatory of

Charter 77 Charter 77 (''Charta 77'' in Czech language, Czech and Slovak language, Slovak) was an informal civic initiative in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic from 1976 to 1992, named after the document Charter 77 from January 1977. Founding members ...

, and promoter of the meetings between Czech and Polish dissidents in the

Giant Mountains The Giant Mountains, Krkonoše, or Karkonosze (Czech: , , ), are a mountain range located in the north of the Czech Republic and the south-west of Poland, part of the Sudetes mountain system (part of the Bohemian Massif). The Czech–Polish bor ...

. From 1977, he was the editor of the dissident magazine ''Dialogy''. In 1980, he left Czechoslovakia and initially went to Germany, only to later settle in France where he continued his political activities. After 1989, he took part in several academic and political initiatives concerning democratization. He lived in Slovakia. Tesař's death at the age of 92 was announced on 16 June 2025.

Archives on the History of Czechoslovak Dissent

As a historian well trained in archival work, Tesař has left two important collections that concern the history of the Czechoslovak dissident movement. One of them is currently located at the Museum of

Moravia Moravia ( ; ) is a historical region in the eastern Czech Republic, roughly encompassing its territory within the Danube River's drainage basin. It is one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The medieval and early ...

, while the other is held in the collections of La contemporaine in France.

Works

* ''Mnichovský komplex : jeho příčiny a důsledky''. Prostor, Prague 2000. 255 p. (). * ''Zamlčená diagnóza''. Triáda, Prague 2003. 143 p. (). * ''Traktát o „záchraně národa“ : texty z let 1967-1969 o začátku německé okupace''. Triáda, Praha 2006. 381 p. (). * ''Česká cikánská rapsodie.'' I.-III. volumes. Triáda, Prague 2016. (Volume I. ''Vzpomínky Josefa Serinka / Jan Tesař, Místo epilogu / Rozhovor s Josefem Ondrou / Dokumenty'', 508 pages, (). Volume II. ''Komentáře ke vzpomínkám Josefa Serinka'', 640 pages. Volume III. ''Mapy, tabulky, diagramy – partyzáni na Vysočině / Jan Tesař, Serinkovské inspirace'', 212 pages, (). * ''Co počít ve vlkově břiše. Práce o vytváření struktur občanské společnosti 1968–1980.'' Triáda, Prague 2018. 600 p. () *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tesar, Jan 1933 births 2025 deaths 21st-century Czech historians Charles University alumni Czech expatriates in Slovakia Czechoslovak dissidents Czechoslovak expatriates in France People from Skuteč Czechoslovak expatriates in Germany Czech editors Czech magazine editors Charter 77 signatories Czech male writers 20th-century Czech historians