Soňa Čechová (; 9 September 1930 – 4 March 2007)FRIŠ Eduard 27.1.1912-14.5.1978. In: was a Slovak translator and promoter of Czecho-Slovak unity. She was the editor in chief of the Mosty magazine, which focused on better mutual understanding before Czechs and Slovaks.

Biography

Soňa Čechová was born on 9 September 1930 in

Bratislava Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

to a prominent family of

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

intellectuals. Her grandfather Metod Bella was among the signatories of Martin Declaration, which declared the desire of Slovak intellectuals to form Czechoslovakia. Čechová was educated at the girls' grammar school in Bratislava and

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 ...

. In 1952, she graduated in Slovak and Russian languages from the

Comenius University Comenius University Bratislava () is the largest university in Slovakia, with most of its faculties located in Bratislava. It was founded in 1919, shortly after the creation of Czechoslovakia. It is named after Jan Amos Comenius, a 17th-century ...

.Soňa Čechová. In: Following her graduation, Čechová worked as a translator in the ''Tatran'' editorial house. She translated novels by

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy Tolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; ,Throughout Tolstoy's whole life, his name was written as using Reforms of Russian orthography#The post-revolution re ...

Franz Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a novelist and writer from Prague who was Jewish, Austrian, and Czech and wrote in German. He is widely regarded as a major figure of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of Litera ...

and

Vladimir Nabokov Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov ( ; 2 July 1977), also known by the pen name Vladimir Sirin (), was a Russian and American novelist, poet, translator, and entomologist. Born in Imperial Russia in 1899, Nabokov wrote his first nine novels in Rus ...

into Slovak. During the

Prague Spring The Prague Spring (; ) was a period of liberalization, political liberalization and mass protest in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. It began on 5 January 1968, when reformist Alexander Dubček was elected Secretary (title), First Secre ...

, she translated also some books that had been previously censored by the Communist regime, such as Doctor Zhivago by

Boris Pasternak Boris Leonidovich Pasternak (30 May 1960) was a Russian and Soviet poet, novelist, composer, and literary translator. Composed in 1917, Pasternak's first book of poems, ''My Sister, Life'', was published in Berlin in 1922 and soon became an imp ...

. Following the

Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia On 20–21 August 1968, the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic was jointly invaded by four fellow Warsaw Pact countries: the Soviet Union, the Polish People's Republic, the People's Republic of Bulgaria, and the Hungarian People's Republic. The ...

, during the

Normalization Normalization or normalisation refers to a process that makes something more normal or regular. Science * Normalization process theory, a sociological theory of the implementation of new technologies or innovations * Normalization model, used in ...

period, Čechová was a part of the dissent. Her son Vladimír Čech was among the few Slovak signatories 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 ...

. Due to her political positions, she was fired from Tatran and worked as a librarian until her retirement. 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 ...

, she was able to return to literary work as an editor in the Kultúry život magazine. In reaction to calls for Slovak independence, Čechová joined the Mosty magazine started by her son Vladimír Čech. Following the premature death of her son in 1994, she became the editor of chief of the magazine, which she published for 15 years. In addition, she organized various meetings of Czech and Slovak intellectuals to maintain the ties following the dissolution of the common state. In 2002, she received the Medal of Merit from the Czech president

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 ...

for her lifelong efforts in promoting unity between Czechs and Slovaks.

Personal life and death

Soňa Čechová had two children. From her first marriage, she had a son Vladimír Čech (1950–1994). From her second marriage to the historian Eduard Friš, she had a daughter Marta Frišová (born 1962, married to the journalist Martin Šimečka). Her third husband was the philosopher Teodor Münz. Soňa Čechová died in Bratislava on 4 March 2007.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cechova, Sona 1930 births 2007 deaths People from Bratislava Recipients of Medal of Merit (Czech Republic) Slovak translators Slovak women journalists Comenius University alumni Slovak women activists