Radim Palouš (6 November 1924 – 10 September 2015) was a Czech dissident, philosopher, educator, and former spokesman for

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 from 1990 to 1994, was the rector of

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 ...

in Prague.

Life

Palouš was born into a family of journalists and active athletes. After graduating in Prague, he was placed in forced labor during

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 ...

. From 1945 onwards, he studied philosophy at

(taught by Jan Patočka), and in 1948 he defended his doctoral thesis on Masaryks philosophy of youth. He worked as a teacher and studied chemistry at the pedagogical branch in Charles University, where, since 1957, he worked as an assistant. He was qualified in the field of education (Labour School of the modern age), and dealt with the work of

Comenius John Amos Comenius (; ; ; ; Latinization (literature), Latinized: ''Ioannes Amos Comenius''; 28 March 1592 – 15 November 1670) was a Czech Philosophy, philosopher, Pedagogy, pedagogue and Theology, theologian who is considered the father of ...

and on modern teaching techniques. His contributions enriched the philosophy of education in

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 ...

. In 1976, he signed

, and from 1982 to 1983 he was its spokesman. Since 1989 until his death, he was a member of the Masaryk Democratic Movement. In November 1989, as one of the representatives of 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 ...

, he participated in meetings and negotiations during 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 ...

to release

from its Communist rule. In January 1990, he became the rector of Charles University. He participated in the restoration of the reform of higher education and to restore international relations with the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. Throughout his times, he traveled and lectured in Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia and received nine honorary doctorates (eight at foreign universities and one in the Czech Republic). For his work in publishing writings on Patočka, he was awarded the Prize of Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, and most notably, for his lifelong work, the third class of the Order of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk in 1997. On 10 September 2015, Radim Palouš died.

Works

*Chemie pro uchazeče o studium na vysokých školách, 2. 1965 *Světověk, 1969, 6. 1990 (německy Das Weltzeitalter, 1993) *Škola stáří, 1978 (německy 1979) *K Bolzanovu významu v duchovním vývoji a v národním povědomí, 1981 *Čas výchovy, 1983, 1991 *Česká zkušenost, 1984s, 1994 *Konverze, 1988 *Dopisy kmotřenci 1990 *K filosofii výchovy, 1991 *Komenského Boží svět, 1992 *Osobnost a komunikace, 1990 *Comenius aus Patočka's Sicht, 1993 *Rokování o roku, 1994 *Totalismus a holismus, 1996

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Palous, Radim 1924 births 2015 deaths 20th-century Czech philosophers Charles University alumni Rectors of Charles University Czechoslovak dissidents

Life

Works

See also

References