Zdena Tominová (7 February 1941 – 24 May 2020) was a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

novelist and a dissident in the communist era of Czechoslovakia.

Biography

She was born Zdena Holubová in 1941 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 ...

. She studied philosophy and sociology at university. She started her literary career in 1959, writing

surrealist Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...

poetry. In 1962, she married the philosopher

Julius Tomin Julius Tomin (born 2 December 1938) is a Czech philosopher. He became known in the 1970s and 1980s for his involvement with the Jan Hus Educational Foundation, which ran an underground education network in the former Czechoslovakia, offering semi ...

. She published essays and short stories in the sixties. After the fall of

Alexander Dubček Alexander Dubček (; 27 November 1921 – 7 November 1992) was a Slovaks, Slovak statesman who served as the First Secretary of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ) (''de facto'' leader of Czech ...

, her writings were banned for life by the communist regime. She was one of the spokespersons 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 ...

, which resulted in intense official harassment. She wrote for the

samizdat Samizdat (, , ) was a form of dissident activity across the Eastern Bloc in which individuals reproduced censored and underground makeshift publications, often by hand, and passed the documents from reader to reader. The practice of manual rep ...

publication ''Padlock''. In 1980, she and her husband travelled to

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

. They were declared "enemies of the state" by the Czechoslovak government and their citizenship was revoked. They eventually settled in Britain. Writing as Zdena Tomin, Tominová published two novels, ''Stalin's Shoe'' (1986) and ''The Coast of Bohemia'' (1987). Both were well received by reviewers. She also wrote the screenplay for an autobiographical drama called ''Enemies of the State'', which was first broadcast by

Granada Television ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV (TV network), ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire on weekdays only, as ABC Weekend TV, ...

in 1981. The role of Zdena was played by

Zoë Wanamaker Zoë Wanamaker (born 13 May 1949) is an American-born British actress who has worked extensively with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre. Wanamaker was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2001 by Qu ...

. The drama was also broadcast in the US in 1988. Zdena Tominová lived in the UK. She had two sons. One of them, the budding writer Lukáš Tomin (1963-1995) moved back to Prague in 1991 and died there at the

Divoká Šárka Divoká Šárka (; wild Šárka) is a nature reserve on the northwestern outskirts of Prague, the capital city of the Czech Republic. Around the 6th century, the Slavs came to this area. Between the 7th and 9th centuries, there was a Slavic ...

nature reserve in 1995. Her other son Marek is a journalist and translator, also based in Prague. Her niece is

Michaela Marksová Michaela Marksová (born Michaela Tominová 20 March 1969) is a Czech Republic, Czech politician. From January 2014, she was the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (Czech Republic), Czech Minister of Labour and Social Affairs in Bohuslav Sobo ...

, former minister of Labour and Social Affairs of the Czech Republic.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tominova, Zdena 20th-century Czech novelists Czech women novelists Charter 77 signatories Writers from Prague 1941 births 2020 deaths 20th-century Czech women writers Czech expatriates in the United Kingdom