Prizes for promoting the Czech culture abroad / Ceny za sireni ceske kultury v zahranici

The Czech Minister of Foreign Affairs Karel Swarzenberg held this Tuesday in Prague an award-giving ceremony. Who was worthy of this s0-called Gratias Agit prize? Anyone who has been promoting the Czech Republic’s good name abroad. This year’s winners became 2 organizations and 14 persons. Compared to the last year results, however, this year’s champions were mostly foreigners:

ORGANIZATIONS

1. Texas Czech Heritage and Cultural Center – currently building a Czech museum
2. “Stonozka” organization in Norway – founded by Czech fellow-countryman Bela Gran Jensen; humanitarian organization where the Czech and the Norwegian children help other children from around the world by selling their hand-drawn pictures, where the money raised is used for a purchase of first aid necessities.

PERSONALITIES

• Jiri Hlinka from Norway – Czech piano player and a music teacher
• Milos Forman – Czech American film-maker (see my previous post on him)
• Cahan Rozen from Israel – born and raised in Ostrava, founder of the League for Israel-Czechoslovakian Friendship, also a member of Israeli organization called the Friends of the Czech Republic
• Irena Kirkland from the USA – Czech-born; activist for human rights, rights of the workers and immigrants
• Irene Bizot from France – serves as a negotiator between the Czech and the French galleries and museums
• Kerry Statton from Canada – Canadian conductor who keeps relentlessly introducing the Czech music to the world
• Edna Gomez Ruiz from Mexico – Mexican woman who propagates Czech culture in many ways such as introducing the “Mexican Lidice”
• Erich and Brigitte Kraus from Germany – German married couple who is involved in making peace between the Czechs and the Germans

Other foreigners that received the Gratis agit award for introducing the Czech culture to the world are Nguen Thi Mui (Vietnam), Christa Rothmeler (Austria), Fernando de Valenzuela Villaverde (Spain), Leo Metsar (Estonia), Dusan Karpat (former Yugoslavia) and the philantrophist Charles Merrill (USA).

—————————————————————————————————————————

CZ: Ministr zahranici Karel Swarzenberg poradal toto utery v Cerninskem palaci slavnostni predavani cen a to “za sireni dobreho jmena Ceske Republiky v cizine”. Cenu Gratias agit dostalo 14 osobnosti a dve organizace. Vetsinou ocenenych se ale tento rok stali cizinci a to zejmena z rad umelcu, bohemistu a prekladatelu:

ORGANIZACE

1. Centrum ceskeho dedictvi a kultury v Texasu – nyni buduje ceske museum a skanzen
2. Hnuti Stonozka v Norsku – zalozene ceskou krajankou Belou Gran Jensen; humanitarni hnuti kde pry deti (ceske a norske) pomahaji detem po celem svete a to kreslenim obrazku za ktere pak nakupuji sanitky, vybaveni nemocnic….

OSOBNOSTI

• Jiri Hlinka z Norska – cesky klavirista a hudebni pedagog
• Milos Forman – Cechamerican; producent/reziser znamych filmu jako je Amadeus a Prelet nad Kukaccim hnizdem (mate-li zajem, prectete si o nem muj post pod kategorii “Famous Czech people”)
• Chanan Rozen z Izraele – ostravsky rodak, zakladatel Ligy pratelstvi Izrael-Ceskoslovensko a predseda Izraelske spolecnosti pratel Ceske republiky
• Irena Kirklandova z USA – ceska rodacka; zastankyne lidskych prav, prav pracujicich a uprchliku; dnes jiz zesnula
• Irene Bizot z Francie – se jako kuratorka zaslouzila o rozvijeni kontaktu mezi ceskymi a francouskymi muzei a galeriemi
• Kerry Statton z Kanady – kanadsky dirigent, ktery neustale uvadi ceskou hudbu ve svete
• Edna Gomez Ruizova z Mexika – mexicanka, ktera propaguje ceskou kulturu napriklad tim, ze prosazuje mexicke Lidice
• Erich a Brigitte Kraus z Nemecka -nemecky manzelsky par, ktery podporuje smireni mezi Cechy a Nemci

Dalsimi cizinci kteri proslavuji jmeno Ceske republiky v zahranici jsou Nguen Thi Mui z Vietnamu (prekladatelka Oty Pavla), Christa Rothmelerova z Rakouska, Fernando de Valenzuela Villaverde ze Spanelska, Leo Metsar z Estonska, Dusan Karpatsky z byvale Jugoslavie a filantrop Charles Merrill z USA.

Source: http://krajane.radio.cz/cs/article_detail/1000