Bohumil Doležal (born 17 January 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 *Czech (surnam ...

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 ( ; ) 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 ...

, and graduated in 1962 after studying

and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

Charles University Charles University (CUNI; , UK; ; ), or historically as the University of Prague (), is the largest university in the Czech Republic. It is one of the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest universities in the world in conti ...

. 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 The Prague Spring (; ) was a period of liberalization, political liberalization and mass protest in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. It began on 5 January 1968, when reformist Alexander Dubček was elected Secretary (title), First Secre ...

, 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 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 was a founding member of the Czechoslovak Helsinki Committee. After the

Velvet revolution The Velvet Revolution () or Gentle Revolution () was a non-violent transition of power in what was then Czechoslovakia, occurring from 17 November to 28 November 1989. Popular demonstrations against the one-party government of the Communist Pa ...

of 1989, he was co-opted to the federal chamber of the Czechoslovak 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 After the Velvet Revolution in Revolutions of 1989, late-1989, Czechoslovakia adopted the official short-lived country name Czech and Slovak Federative Republic (, ; ''ČSFR'') during the period from 23 April 1990 until 31 December 1992, after w ...

and after its peaceful split, prime minister of the

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

). 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.

References

External links

Doležal's personal political weblog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dolezal, Bohumil 1940 births Living people Czech journalists 20th-century Czech politicians Journalists from Prague Politicians from Prague Charter 77 signatories People of the Velvet Revolution Charles University alumni