FAMOUS Czechs & Slovaks abroad

OK, we know that the Czechs are quite inventive. Prokop Divis invented a lighting rod, Jan Jansky invented blood types, Otto Wichterle came up with contact lenses...and the list goes on. But czech out this Czech guy!!!! (pix attached). Should he not be on the inventor’s list as well??

Petr Kratochvil of the Czech Republic rides his “aerodynamic,” bicycle on Federal Highway in Hollywood, Thursday, Sept. 13, 2012. Kratochvil, who is an “inventor,” says the bike keeps him in the wet weather and in the shade when it is sunny. Photo by Joe Cavaretta, SunSentinel (c)2012 [click to continue…]

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Martina Navratilova proved that she can move on the tennis court as well as on the ballroom floor. She happens to be one of the competitors of the famous show  called Dancing with the Stars this year and in her recent interview with the LA Times she explains why she decided to be part of such world. Ever since she was a young girl she was intimidated by dancing and since she has learned to face her fears straight on she joined the biggest dancing competition that’s out there to conquer her fear.
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I have been living in this culture long enough to know that movie The Wizard of Oz to Americans is something like the Czech movie Popelka to Czechs. It is the ultimate classics.

Although I have not warmed up to that movie too much now I know I will be changing my ways. Why? One of the CMD readers sent me a link to the LA Times which had a long article about a 4’4″ dwarf-actor named Karl Slover who recently passed at the age of 93 and his most popular role was acting as one of the munchkins in The Wizzard of Oz.

So far it’s a pretty uneventful story until I tell you that  Karl Slover was born in Slovakia (former Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and yes, the LA Times has that information wrong) as Karel Kosicky. [click to continue…]

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Both handsome brothers as well as their father were known for their resistance tendencies. Josef Masin (the father) was executed in Prague after being tortured several days by the Gestapo, which he was feverishly fighting against. His sons, Ctirad (who passed away yesterday in his Cleveland home) and Josef, inherited his courageous spirit and fought against the communist regime. What they are most known for, however, is their incredible escape to Western Germany. Why was their escape so controversial and why do some people call them heroes and others label them as murders?

 

Read a short version here (New York times)

Read a longer version here (Wikipedia.org)

CZ: Jablko se neodkutalelo daleko od stromu, protoze jak Ctirad (ktery zemrel vcera ve svem Clevelandovem dome), tak Josef se proslavili svymi svymi bojovymi postoji. Otec Josef byl za svou protinacistickou propagandu poslan do koncentracniho tabora, kde take zemrel. Jeho synove pak prebrali zezlo, a stali se odbojari proti komunismu. Nejvice se ale proslavili svym neuveritelne dobrodruznym utekem na Zapad. Proc je kvuli nemu nekteri lide tak obdivuji a jini je nazyvaji vrahy? Prectete si vyse uvedene clanky:

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The ‘golden’ Czech hands are making us proud this time in Boston. A 40-year-old plastic surgeon, Bohdan Pomahac, has recently finished a second complete transplantation of the face. Bohdan, along with other 30 surgeons, has done so in a record time of 14 hours. The receiver was a 30-year-old man who got his skin badly burnt while in contact with an electrical wiring. [click to continue…]

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I came across these cool photos of Vaclav Havel – the former Czech president. It kind of gives an overview of his fruitful life, ever since he was just a ‘nobody’ until his post-president era when he had a chance to meet with Mr. Obama (or rather, Obama had a chance to meet with Havel??) Take a look (click here)!
CZ: Ani nevim, co jsem na internete hledala, ale skoncila jsem na strankach Oldricha Skaly – znameho fotografa, zachycujiciho zivot Vaclava Havla. Fotky nam priblizuji Vaska jiz od utleho mladi, kdyz byl jeste ‘obycejny’ chlapek, az po dobu, kdy si ho pozval na obed samotny Obama (nebo Obama pozval na obed samotneho Havla??).
Fotky muzete shlednout zde (klinete zde).

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young Karel Kryl google imageI have been lately into listening to Karel Kryl’s songs. This guy was such an interesting person! He died quite young at the age of 49  but his songs are going to be cherished by the Czechs and Slovaks forever. By the way, his music skills are just one slice of the Kryl-pie. He was a great poet and a painter as well.

CZ: Posledni dobou se mi nejak zalibily Krylovy pisnicky a dosti casto je ted posloucham. Nic moc jsem o Krylovi pred tim nevedela, pouze ty zaklady, tudiz jsem se rozhodla udelat jakysi Krylo-vyzkum, co se tyce jeho zivota a dila. Pro zmenu to byla opravdu velmi zajimava a dobrodruzna osubka. Nejen ze byl nadany na poezii a hudbu, byl take vybornym malirem. Zbytek textu je v anglictine, protoze na cesky preklad uz jsem nemela cas ani silu. Sorac.

Karel Kryl was born and raised in a Moravian town called Kromeriz, where his grandfather established a printing business, one of the best ones in pre-communist Czechoslovakia. Thanks to this book-friendly surrounding Karel was in love with literature ever since he was a little boy. When he was just 5 years old the communist party won the elections and few months later he was forced to watch, while the communist army destroyed all of his family’s printing machines. That was the end of prosperous times at the Kryl family. His father had to start working at the local factory and Karel later followed his footsteps. [click to continue…]

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Martina Navratilova www.people.com imageA 53-year-old Czech-born tennis celebrity Martina Navratilova was diagnosed with breast cancer. Since the disease was diagnosed early the prognosis to a completer recovery is excellent. “I cried when I found out about this. It knocked me on my ass, really. I feel so in control of my life and my body, and then this comes, and it’s completely out of my hands.”

The nine-time Wimbledon champion was fortunately diagnosed with a non-invasive form of cancer, called ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), which was confined to the milk ducts. Navratilova had a lumpectomy and will start 6 weeks of radiation therapy in May. “It was the best-case scenario you could imagine for detecting breast cancer,” says Dr Mindy Nagle, Martina’s ob gyn as well as her best friend. [click to continue…]

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Jake Pavelka google imageI have not watched the last Bachelor show but I could not help myself noticing the tabloids on the front pages of every magazine: “Jake Pavelka picked the bad girl!“, ” Jake Pavelka cheats on his fiancee“, “Jake Pavelka will be dancing with the Stars!“. I did some quick research on the origin of his last name and my suspicion was confirmed. The name is definitely of a Czech origin ( I could not find any specific details on what side of his parents is actually Czech though). [click to continue…]

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atomic bomb www.radio.cz imageDoes the name Georg Placzek ring the bell? No? Don’t feel bad because it is a name unknown to many Czechs. Mr. Placzek is known mostly in America, since he was (the only Czech!) present for the detonation of the 1st nuclear bomb, which he had also helped to build.

Radio Prague wrote a very nice overview of Placzek’s life and you will be surprised to find out in what ways was he connected to names like Charles Darwin, Neils Bohr, Otto Frish and other famous scientists (click here to read the complete article).

CZ: Rika vam neco jmeno Georg Placzek? Ne? Nebojte se, nejste sami; malokomu z Cechu toto jmeno neco rika. Georg byl znamy zejmena v Americe, kam v roce 1945 emigroval. O par mesicu pozdeji byl jako jediny Cech pritomen u detonace prvni atomove bomby. To ale neni vsechno, byl totiz take jeji spolutvurce.

Radio Praha o nem napsala moc zajimavy clanek, kde se take dovite, jakym zpusobem byl spojeny se jmeny jako je Charles Darwin, Neils Bohr, Otto Frish a dalsimi veleznamymi vedci.

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