Zoe Klusáková-Svobodová (4 December 1925 – 12 December 2022) was a Czech economist, academic, writer and translator. She was the daughter of

Ludvík Svoboda Ludvík Svoboda (; 25 November 1895 – 20 September 1979) was a Czech general and politician. He fought in both World Wars, for which he was regarded as a national hero,President of Czechoslovakia The president of Czechoslovakia (, ) was the head of state of Czechoslovakia, from the Origins of Czechoslovakia, creation of the First Czechoslovak Republic in 1918 until the Dissolution of Czechoslovakia, dissolution of the Czech and Slovak F ...

from 1968 to 1975, and the widow of

Czechoslovak Czechoslovak may refer to: *A demonym or adjective pertaining to Czechoslovakia (1918–93) **First Czechoslovak Republic (1918–38) **Second Czechoslovak Republic (1938–39) **Third Czechoslovak Republic (1948–60) ** Fourth Czechoslovak Repu ...

diplomat, .

Biography

Klusáková-Svobodová was born in the city of

Uzhhorod Uzhhorod (, ; , ; , ) is a List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality on the Uzh, Uzh River in western Ukraine, at the border with Slovakia and near the border with Hungary. The city is approximately equidistan ...

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 ...

(present-day

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

), on 4 December 1925. She was the youngest of two children, including her older brother, Miroslav. Her father,

during the

Communist era A communist era is a sustained period of national government by a single party following the philosophy of Marxism–Leninism. Many countries have experienced such a period of communist rule. Current communist states China The Chinese Communist ...

from 1968 to 1975. Her mother, (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Stratilová), became the First Lady of Czechoslovakia. Her father, General Ludvík Svoboda, went into exile during the

Occupation of Czechoslovakia (1938–1945) The military occupation of Czechoslovakia by Nazi Germany began with the German annexation of the Sudetenland in 1938, continued with the creation of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, and by the end of 1944 extended to all parts of C ...

by Nazi Germany and the outbreak of World War II, while Zoe Klusáková-Svobodová remained in occupied Czechoslovakia with her mother and brother. The entire family joined the Czechoslovak resistance to Nazi occupation, specifically aiding Czechoslovak and foreign

paratroopers A paratrooper or military parachutist is a soldier trained to conduct military operations by parachuting directly into an area of operations, usually as part of a large airborne forces unit. Traditionally paratroopers fight only as light inf ...

who landed near Dřínov. However, the family and the larger resistance cell were discovered by the

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

, forcing Klusáková-Svobodová to flee into hiding in the

Bohemian-Moravian Highlands The Bohemian-Moravian Highlands (, colloquially ''Vysočina''; ) is a geomorphological macroregion and highland in the Czech Republic. Its highest peaks are the Javořice at and Devět skal in the north (). The Bohemian-Moravian Heights were p ...

of southern

Moravia Moravia ( ; ) is a historical region in the eastern Czech Republic, roughly encompassing its territory within the Danube River's drainage basin. It is one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The medieval and early ...

from 1941 until the end of occupation in 1945. She and her mother first lived in hiding in the village of Hroznatín before moving to Džbánice for the remainder of the war. Her brother, Miroslav, was captured by the Nazis and died in the

Mauthausen concentration camp Mauthausen was a German Nazi concentration camp on a hill above the market town of Mauthausen, Upper Austria, Mauthausen (roughly east of Linz), Upper Austria. It was the main camp of a group with List of subcamps of Mauthausen, nearly 100 f ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. Klusáková-Svobodová accounts of World War II and her involvement with the Czech resistance are archived in the Memory of Nations, an oral history initiative created by

Post Bellum Post Bellum is a Czech educational nonprofit organization based in Prague. The organization was formed in 2001 by a group of historians and journalists with the aim of increasing public knowledge of the 20th century history of the Czech Republ ...

, a Czech nonprofit. Klusáková-Svobodová became an economist and a notable

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 ...

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

translator. She taught at the Faculty of Law at

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 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 also devoted considerable effort to preserving the legacy of her parents, Ludvík Svoboda and Irena Svobodová, including as honorary chairwoman of the Ludvík Svoboda Society. Her daughter, Czech historian , died in 2020.

Awards and recognitions

* (2009) - Awarded by the

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

. *

Jubilee Medal "60 Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" The Jubilee Medal "60 Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" (Russian: Юбилейная медаль «60 лет Победы в Великой Отечественной войне 1941–1945 гг.») is a state commemorativ ...

(2005,

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

)В посольстве РФ в Праге вручены медали чешским ветеранам
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Klusakova-Svobodova, Zoe 1925 births 2022 deaths Czech academics 20th-century Czech economists 21st-century Czech economists Czech women economists Czech translators Czech resistance members Academic staff of Charles University Academic staff of the Prague University of Economics and Business Czech Technical University in Prague alumni People from Uzhhorod