Petr Placák (born 8 January 1964 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 ...

), also known under pseudonym Petr Zmrzlík, is a Czech writer. During the communist regime in Czechoslovakia he published his works in

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 ...

. He was clarinettist in

the Plastic People of the Universe The Plastic People of the Universe (PPU) is a Czech rock band from Prague. They are considered the foremost representatives of Prague's underground culture (1968–1989), which defied Czechoslovakia's Communist regime. Members of the band o ...

since 1983 and recorded two albums with this band: ''Hovězí porážka'' (1982) and ''Půlnoční myš'' (1986). Later he worked as a journalist for many newspapers, such as ''

Respekt ''Respekt'' is a Czech weekly news magazine published in Prague, the Czech Republic, reporting on domestic and foreign Politics, political and Economy, economic issues, as well as on science and culture. History and profile ''Respekt'' was f ...

'' and ''

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 ...

''. In 1989, he was attacked by members of

StB State Security (, ), or StB / ŠtB, was the secret police force in communist Czechoslovakia from 1945 to its dissolution in 1990. Serving as an intelligence and counter-intelligence agency, it dealt with any activity that was considered oppositio ...

. They were punished in 2014.

References

1964 births Living people Czech male writers Czech human rights activists Czech democracy activists Writers from Prague Musicians from Prague 21st-century Czech clarinetists Czech monarchists {{CzechRepublic-writer-stub