Jan Zajíc (died 25 February 1969) was a
Czech student who killed himself by
self-immolation as a
political protest.
Biography
He was a student of the Střední průmyslová škola železniční (Industrial Highschool of Railways) technical college in
Šumperk, specializing in railways, and was also interested in poetry and
humanities
Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture, including Philosophy, certain fundamental questions asked by humans. During the Renaissance, the term "humanities" referred to the study of classical literature a ...
.
In 1969 he took part in a
hunger strike and a commemoration ceremony by students for
Jan Palach near the statue of
Saint Wenceslas 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 ...
.
On the day of the twenty-first anniversary of the Communist takeover (25 February 1948), he travelled to
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 ...
accompanied by three other students. His intention was to warn the public against the forthcoming political "normalization" of the country. He had several letters challenging the people to fight against the
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Pact (WP), formally the Treaty of Friendship, Co-operation and Mutual Assistance (TFCMA), was a Collective security#Collective defense, collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Polish People's Republic, Poland, between the Sovi ...
's
military occupation of
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 ...
. Around 1:30 in the afternoon he walked into the passageway of the building at No. 39 on
Wenceslas Square and ignited his chemical-soaked clothes. He was unable to run out of the door, and collapsed and died in the hallway.
In a letter he left behind he wrote:
The police prohibited his burial 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 ...
because they feared
demonstrations, such as the ones that followed the burial of
Jan Palach. He was later buried in his hometown of Vítkov.
After the
Velvet Revolution, a bronze cross was set into the ground in front of the
National Museum in Wenceslas Square to honour both Palach and Zajíc.
His death mask by sculptor
Olbram Zoubek is situated at his high school (now Vyšší odborná škola a střední průmyslová škola Šumperk).
Legacy
In 2019, a graphic novel was published about Zajíc's life and suicide.
See also
*
Thích Quảng Đức
*
Ryszard Siwiec
*
Jan Palach
*
Evžen Plocek
*
Romas Kalanta
*
List of political self-immolations
References
External links
A biography of Jan Zajíc– Website of Charles University in Prague
– Website of
Czech Radio
Czech Radio (, ČRo) is the public radio broadcaster of the Czech Republic operating continuously since 1923. It is the oldest national radio broadcaster in continental Europe and the second-oldest in Europe after the BBC. Czech Radio was esta ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zajic, Jan
1969 suicides
1969 deaths
College students who died by suicide
People from Vítkov
Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia
Self-immolations in protest of the Eastern Bloc
Suicides in Czechoslovakia
Recipients of the Order of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk
Czech anti-communists
Suicides in the Czech Republic
Date of birth missing
Suicides by self-immolation