Marie Magdalena Františka "Meda" Mládková ( Sokolová, 8 September 1919 – 3 May 2022) was a Czech art collector. Her husband, (1911–1989), was an

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

and a governor of the

IMF The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of la ...

. Having spent several years in exile, she returned to Czechoslovakia 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.

Early life

Marie Magdalena Františka Sokolová was born on 8 September 1919 within the premises of the Zákupy castle, where her father was working as a brewer. Her family later decided to move to Brandýs nad Labem. She moved to

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in 1946 to study Economics in

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, where she earned her Ph.D. Together with other exiles from Czechoslovakia, she published a magazine called (). By February 1948, she decided not to return to Czechoslovakia. She consequently went to

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, where she studied Art History at the Sorbonne and at L'Ecole du Louvre between 1955 and 1960.

Exile

During her time in Paris, Mládková founded the first Czechoslovak exile publishing company called Edition Sokolova. One of its first published titles was a volume of verse by Ivan Blatný, and the writings of Ferdinand Peroutka. She also became acquainted with Jan Viktor Mládek, an economist and fellow emigrant. He oversaw the interim administration of Czechoslovakia's central bank in the aftermath of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and in 1945 became one of the first Governors of the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...

. They eventually married and decided to settle permanently in

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in 1960. During their time in Washington, the couple built an important art collection. This included over 200 paintings by

František Kupka František Kupka (23 September 1871 – 24 June 1957), also known as ''Frank Kupka'' or ''François Kupka,'' was a Czech painter and graphic artist A graphic designer is a practitioner who follows the discipline of graphic design, eit ...

, as well as 240 productions by Jiří Kolář and 17 sculptures by Otto Gutfreund. The couple even sold their home for $950,000 in order to purchase two of Kupka's

oil painting Oil painting is a painting method involving the procedure of painting with pigments combined with a drying oil as the Binder (material), binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on canvas, wood panel, or oil on coppe ...

s, one of which was ''Localization of Graphic Motifs II''. She later donated this work to the

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art is an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of charge, the museum was privately established in ...

in 1984. Mládková also arranged a Kupka retrospective at the

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, often referred to as The Guggenheim, is an art museum at 1071 Fifth Avenue between 88th and 89th Street (Manhattan), 89th Streets on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It hosts a permanent coll ...

in 1975.

Return to the Czech Republic

After the death of her husband in 1989, Mládková returned to the Czech Republic. She gave her art collection to the city of Prague, and joined the

Civic Forum The Civic Forum (, OF) was a political movement in the Czech part of Czechoslovakia, established during the Velvet Revolution in 1989. The corresponding movement in Slovakia was called Public Against Violence ( – VPN). The Civic Forum's purpo ...

. Later, she founded the Jan and Meda Mládek Foundation and decided to reconstruct the historical premises of Sova's Mills and use it as a location for the Museum Kampa. Museum Kampa became home to her and her husband's art collection, which she donated to the City of Prague. The Jan and Meda Mládek Foundation has in its care a collection of Central European Modern art, and artworks by

and Otto Gutfreund. The price of the collection is today virtually inestimable. It consists of 215 studies, drawings and paintings, and ranks alongside the world's most comprehensive collections of its kind. Mládková was bestowed a state decoration by

Václav Havel Václav Havel (; 5 October 193618 December 2011) was a Czech statesman, author, poet, playwright, and dissident. Havel served as the last List of presidents of Czechoslovakia, president of Czechoslovakia from 1989 until 1992, prior to the dissol ...

in 1999. Thirteen years later, she was appointed a commander of the

Ordre national du Mérite The (; ) is a French order of merit with membership awarded by the President of the French Republic, founded on 3 December 1963 by President Charles de Gaulle. The reason for the order's establishment was twofold: to replace the large number of ...

, in recognition of her efforts as an art collector and philanthropist. She died on 3 May 2022, at the age of 102.

References

External links

ČRO Vltava 26.9.2012, Rozhovor s MMMuseumkampa.com
Týdeník Rozhlas, 12 August 2002
Meda Mládková

Český rozhlas Czech Radio (, ČRo) is the Public broadcasting, 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. ...

, 10 May 2006 *Petr Volf
Sovovy mlýny?
Reflex 33/2001 * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mladkova, Meda 1919 births 2022 deaths People from Zákupy Czech art collectors Czech art historians University of Geneva alumni Commanders of the Ordre national du Mérite Recipients of Medal of Merit (Czech Republic) Czechoslovak expatriates in Switzerland Czechoslovak expatriates in France Czechoslovak expatriates in the United States Czech women centenarians Czechoslovak writers Czech philanthropists