Jiří Hanák (27 February 1938 – 5 June 2020) was a Czech journalist, editor, political activist, and

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 ...

signatory. He was a longtime columnist and writer for various Czech and Czechoslovak newspapers and magazines. He was a recipient of the in 2005 and the Opus Vitae Award in 2010. Born on 27 February 1938 in Buchlovice,

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 ...

, Hanák graduated from the

Faculty of Arts, Charles University in Prague The Faculty of Arts, Charles University (), is one of the original four faculties of Charles University in Prague. When founded, it was named the Faculty of the Liberal Arts or the Artistic Faculty. The faculty provides lectures in the widest ran ...

. After graduation, he become the editor of Reporter magazine in 1967. However, he was fired from the publication in 1969 following the

Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia On 20–21 August 1968, the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic was jointly invaded by four fellow Warsaw Pact countries: the Soviet Union, the Polish People's Republic, the People's Republic of Bulgaria, and the Hungarian People's Republic. The ...

. He was banned from working in journalism and forced to work menial jobs during the

Normalization Normalization or normalisation refers to a process that makes something more normal or regular. Science * Normalization process theory, a sociological theory of the implementation of new technologies or innovations * Normalization model, used in ...

period in the 1970s and 1980s. Jiří Hanák became an early signatory of

civic initiative in 1977. In 1988, Hanak began writing for the

samizdat Samizdat (, , ) was a form of dissident activity across the Eastern Bloc in which individuals reproduced censored and underground makeshift publications, often by hand, and passed the documents from reader to reader. The practice of manual rep ...

newspaper, ''

Lidové noviny ''Lidové noviny'' (''People's News'', or ''The People's Newspaper'', ) is a daily newspaper published in Prague, the Czech Republic. It is the oldest Czech daily still in print, and a newspaper of record. It is a national news daily covering po ...

''. He remained with the ''Lidové noviny'' following the Velvet Revolution and the newspaper's legalization. Hanák helped found and launch the Czech magazine, ''

Týden ''Týden'' (literally 'week') is a Czech weekly news magazine which focuses mainly on news and news analysis. It has been in circulation in 1994. History and profile ''Týden'' was founded in 1994 and soon became part of the Axel Springer AG med ...

'', in 1994. He also served as editor-in-chief of the now defunct '' Svobodné slovo'' newspaper and a commentator and columnist in ''

Právo ''Právo'' () is a Czech daily newspaper published in Prague, Czech Republic. History and profile ''Právo'' emerged in 1991 following the Velvet Revolution, when some editors of the daily '' Rudé právo'' founded a new company unaffiliated ...

''. In 2016, Jiří Hanák returned to work at '' Lidové noviny''. Jiří Hanák died in his sleep on 5 June 2020, at the age of 82, following a short illness.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hanák, Jiří 1938 births 2020 deaths Charter 77 signatories Czech journalists Czech columnists Czech editors Czech magazine editors Czechoslovak dissidents Charles University alumni People from Uherské Hradiště District