Petruška Šustrová (18 May 1947 – 6 May 2023) was a Czech dissident, journalist, and translator. She was a signatory of

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 ...

. She was an international observer for elections in Georgia, Azerbaijan's and Belarus, and was awarded the Officer’s Merit Cross from the Republic of Poland. She also received the

Karel Havlíček Borovský Karel Havlíček Borovský (; 31 October 1821 – 29 July 1856) was a Czech writer, poet, critic, politician, journalist, and publisher. Early life and education He lived and studied at the gymnasium in Německý Brod (today Havlíčkův Brod, ...

Prize for Journalism.

Early life and education

Šustrová was born on 18 May 1947 in Prague. She was a student of Czech history and literature at the Faculty of Arts,

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 ...

, Prague in 1968 when 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 ...

invasion of

Czechoslavakia Czechoslovakia ( ; 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 became part of Nazi ...

happened.

Later life

Šustrová joined the university strike, and then was one of the founders of the Revolutionary Youth Movement (Hnutí revoluční mládže). In December 1969 she was arrested for revolutionary activities and spent two years in jail. After her release in 1971 she worked at a post office. She later worked as a cleaner, before not being allowed to work. Šustrová was a signatory of

. She was a founder of the Committee for the Defense of the Unjustly Prosecuted. Šustrováwas an international observer for the elections in Georgia, Azerbeijan and Belarus between 1999 and 2004. In 1999 Šustrová received the Karel Havlíček Borovský Prize for Journalism from the Czech Literary Fund. In 2004 she was awarded the Officer’s Merit Cross from the Republic of Poland (Krzyż Oficerski Orderu Zasługi Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej), which was presented by President

Aleksander Kwaśniewski Aleksander Kwaśniewski (; born 15 November 1954) is a Polish politician and journalist. He served the maximum two terms as the president of Poland from 1995 to 2005. His tenure as President was marked by modernization of Poland, rapid economi ...

. Šustrová died on 6 May 2023, at the age of 75. Some of her papers are archived at the Online Archive of California.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sustrova, Petruska 1947 births 2023 deaths 20th-century Czech journalists 20th-century Czech translators 20th-century Czech women writers Czechoslovak prisoners and detainees Charter 77 signatories Journalists from Prague Officers of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland Czech women journalists 20th-century women journalists