Ladislav Mňačko (28 January 1919 in Valašské Klobouky – 24 February 1994 in Bratislava) was a Slovak writer and journalist. He took part in the partisan movement in Slovakia during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. After the war, he was at first a staunch supporter of the Czechoslovak Communist regime and one of its most prominent journalists. However, being disillusioned, he became the regime's vocal critic, for which he was persecuted and censored. In the autumn of 1967 he went to Israel as a protest against the Czechoslovak stance during the

Six-Day War The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab states (primarily Egypt, Syria, and Jordan) from 5 to 10 Ju ...

, but returned to Czechoslovakia soon afterwards. After the invasion to Czechoslovakia by the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

-led

Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Pact (WP) or Treaty of Warsaw, formally the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, was a collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Poland, between the Soviet Union and seven other Eastern Bloc socialist repub ...

in August 1968 he emigrated again, this time to

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, where he lived for the next 21 years. In 1968 and 1969, he helped selflessly a number of Czechoslovak emigrants who came to Vienna. Shortly after the fall of the communist regime in November 1989 he returned home to Czechoslovakia (January 1990). But subsequent political developments and the growth of nationalism in Slovak part of federation disappointed him. After the dissolution of Czechoslovakia (1992), with which he strongly disagreed he moved to

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 ...

. Died suddenly due to cardiac weakness during a short visit of Slovakia and was buried in Lukovištia. Mňačko is one of the few Slovak writers of the 1950s and 1960s whose works were translated into

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

. There is a permanent exhibition of the study and library of Ladislav Mňačko in Malá vila PNP, Pelléova 20/71, 160 00 Praha 6 – Bubeneč, almost identical to Mňačko's study in his Prague apartment.

Works

* ''Smrť sa volá Engelchen'' (Death Is Called Engelchen), 1959. Translated into English by George Theiner in 1963. Filmed by

Ján Kadár Ján Kadár (1 April 1918 – 1 June 1979) was a Hungarian-born Slovak film writer and director of Jewish heritage. As a filmmaker, he worked in Czechoslovakia, the United States, and Canada. Most of his films were directed in tandem with Elm ...

in 196

* ''Oneskorené reportáže'' (Delayed Reportages), 1963. * ''Ako chutí moc'' (The Taste of Power), 1967. Translated into English by Paul Stevenson in 1967. * ''Siedma noc'' (The Seventh Night), 1968. Translated into English in 1969.

References

External links

Literárne informačné centrum (LIC): ''Ladislav Mňačko''
Biography on litcentrum.sk (Slovak)
Study and library of Ladislav Mňačko in Prague
1919 births 1994 deaths Slovak writers Slovak novelists Slovak dramatists and playwrights Slovak communists Czechoslovak communists Czechoslovak emigrants to Austria People from Valašské Klobouky Czechoslovak writers Recipients of the Order of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, 1st class {{Slovakia-writer-stub