Bohumil Doležal (born January 17, 1940), is 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' Places * Czech, ...

literary critic, politician and former dissident. He was a political advisor to

Václav Klaus Václav Klaus (; born 19 June 1941) is a Czech economist and politician who served as the second president of the Czech Republic from 2003 to 2013. From July 1992 until the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in January 1993, he served as the second ...

, the former Czech prime minister. Doležal was born in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

, and graduated in 1962 after studying

and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

at Charles University. He wrote literary critiques for the magazine ''Tvář'' from 1964 to 1965, when the magazine was cancelled. He later wrote for the magazine after its revival in 1968, made possible by the Prague spring, until 1969 when ''Tvář'' was cancelled again. He first met Václav Klaus in 1968. For the next twenty years, he worked as a technician and programmer. He signed

Charter 77 Charter 77 (''Charta 77'' in Czech and 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 architects were Jiří Něm ...

and was a founding member of the Czechoslovakian Helsinki Committee. After the

Velvet revolution The Velvet Revolution ( cs, Sametová revoluce) or Gentle Revolution ( sk, Nežná revolúcia) was a non-violent transition of power in what was then Czechoslovakia, occurring from 17 November to 28 November 1989. Popular demonstrations agains ...

of 1989, he was co-opted to the federal chamber of the Czechoslovakian parliament. Later he was elected to the chamber. Around 1992-1993 he worked as the chief political advisor to

(then minister of finance of the Czech and Slovak Federative Republic and after its peaceful split, prime minister of the

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

). After a difference of opinion with Klaus, Doležal moved into academia and started teaching politics and "the history of political thinking" in the Faculty of Social Sciences at Charles University. In addition, he is a well-known activist and supporter of Czech-German reconciliation. His opinions are close to that of German expellees organizations. His writing is also published in various Czech printed and electronic media.

Notes

External links

Doležal's personal political weblog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dolezal, Bohumil 1940 births Czech journalists Living people Charter 77 signatories People of the Velvet Revolution Charles University alumni