Naďa Hejná (née Pietrová; 6 October 1906 – 8 February 1994) was a Slovak actress.

Biography

Early life and education

Naďa Hejná was born in Turócszentmárton,

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

(now Martin, Slovakia) to a locally prominent family belonging to

petty nobility The minor or petty nobility is the lower nobility classes. Finland Petty nobility in Finland is dated at least back to the 13th century and was formed by nobles around their strategic interests. The idea was more capable peasants with leader role ...

. Her grandfather Ambro Pietor and father Miloš Pietor were prominent journalists. Both of her parents were amateur actors. Her brother Ivan Pietor served as a Commerce and Transportation minister between 1945 and 1948. She studied commerce 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 ...

for a year, but abandoned her studied due to financial constrains and also to pursue acting. Following her return to Martin, she played with various amateur troupes and worked in theatre administration. In January 1944, she became an actress of the newly formed Slovenské komorné divadlo in Martin.

Fight against fascism

Upon the outbreak of the

Slovak National Uprising Slovak National Uprising ( Slovak: ''Slovenské národné povstanie'', abbreviated SNP; alternatively also ''Povstanie roku 1944'', English: ''The Uprising of 1944'') was organised by the Slovak resistance during the Second World War, directed ag ...

, Hejná applied to join the Front Theatre, a troupe established by the actor Andrej Bagar with the aim to increase the morale of the rebels and to promote the antifascist resistance among population. Nonetheless, she was not accepted as it was considered too dangerous for a woman. Instead, she worked as a host of the rebel radio in

Banská Bystrica Banská Bystrica (, also known by other #Etymology, alternative names) is a city in central Slovakia, located on the Hron River in a long and wide valley encircled by the mountain chains of the Low Tatras, the Greater Fatra, Veľká Fatra, and t ...

After the war

From 1945 to 1948, Hejná lived in Prague again for family reasons – her brother was a minister and her husband had a job in the film industry. Following the

1948 Czechoslovak coup d'état In late February 1948, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ), with Soviet backing, assumed undisputed control over the government of Czechoslovakia through a coup d'état. It marked the beginning of four decades of the party's rule in t ...

, the family faced persecution. Hejná with her husband had to leave Prague and settled in a village of Štiavnička, nearby Martin. There, she returned to acting at the Martin theatre, where she remained active until 1990. In addition to stage acting, Hejná appeared in a number of films, including ''

Marketa Lazarová ''Marketa Lazarová'' is a 1967 Czechoslovak New Wave Epic film, epic period drama film directed by František Vláčil. It is an adaptation of the novel ''Marketa Lazarová (novel), Marketa Lazarová'' (1931) by Vladislav Vančura. Set in the mi ...

'' (1967), ''

Rosy Dreams ''Rosy Dreams'' (''Ružové sny'') is a 1977 Czechoslovak film. Despite its whimsical poetic style, it was the first Central European feature film that put the Romani (Gypsy) community at the center stage in a realistically reflected manner. It w ...

'' (1977) and '' Forget Mozart'' (1985).

Death and legacy

Hejná died in Štiavnička on 8 February 1994 at the age of 88. She is buried at her family tomb at the

National Cemetery in Martin The National Cemetery () in Martin, Slovakia is the final resting place of many important personalities of Slovak history. The list includes writers, poets, national activists, pedagogues, etc. The reason why Martin was selected as the site for t ...

. A street in Martin is named after her. The

Radio and Television of Slovakia Radio and Television of Slovakia ( ), or RTVS, was a nationwide public broadcasting, state-funded organisation in Slovakia. The organisation was created in 2011 following a merger of Slovenská televízia (Slovak Television) with Slovensk ...

created a documentary about her life.

Personal life

In 1930 she married a Czech professor Vít Hejný. Their son was the mathematician Milan Hejný.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hejna, Nada 1906 births 1994 deaths Burials at National Cemetery in Martin People from Martin, Slovakia Slovak film actresses Slovak stage actresses 20th-century Slovak actresses Slovak anti-fascists