Czechmatediary

There is a new interesting Czech book out there called “The Czech scientists in exile” and Radio Praha just recently published a shortened version of couple of those people’s biographies. For the sake of space I shortened their already shortened version even more but it is still a VERY interesting reading…

Josef Michl (Boulder, CO)

Why do people call him the “renaissance chemist”? Because Josef excels not only in theory but also in hands-on research work. He is currently also the most cited Czech-born researcher out there, having been cited about 15,000 times in various research articles. Another reason why they call him that nickname is that he teaches in 6 different languages but can get by speaking Japanese as well. (more…)

An ageless pop-star Karel Gott is scheduled to tour Canada for the first time. In May of this year he is going to bless 3 cities with his devine visit: Toronto, Vancouver and Edmont. Since the audience in Canada knows him mostly from the former years of his career Gott is planning to sing the classics but not only in Czech but in Slovak, Russian, German, English and Italian! (more…)

The Canadian minister of Citizenship and Immigration, Diane Finley, confirmed on March 1st that following countries no longer need temporary resident visa to visit Canada:

• Slovakia
• Poland
• Lithuania
• Hungary (more…)
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Prague Spring in 1968 brought to Canada about 21,000 Czech and Slovak immigrants. How are they doing now? They are just fine but their kids seem to have forgotten their Czech roots. Why is that? It certainly cannot be for the lack of exposure because Toronto is simply overflowing with Czech “fingerprints”. Here are some examples:

• Masaryktown quarter
  • flats
  • Czech library
  • Czech restaurant

• “Czech” park - favorite meet up place of local Czechs

• Czech theater (more…)
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Many of the Czech immigrants who came to Canada between 1948 - 1951 could find no work. That is why various Czech-owned businesses such as the Bata Shoe, Hamilton Carhart, the Czechoslovak National Alliance, Opal Manufacturing , Staruba Industrial Corporation, Hesky Flax Products and others offered these “brothers” a new employment opportunities.

Immigrants who came after the Prague Spring in 1968 faced similar problems. This time, however, the government was ready for them: it offered language classes free of charge as well as the already existing large Czech community to make the whole transition process easier. That year Canada welcomed about 21, 000 Czechs and Slovaks. (more…)

When the W.W.I ended the Czech immigration became less attractive because the new Czechoslovak Republic had a stable and industrialized economy. Job offers become widely available and the standard of living improved drastically. However the agricultural field remained attractive. Lot of Czech farmers came to Canada to develop the Sugar Beet industry and that is how new Czech communities in southern Alberta were formed (especially in Lethbridge and Chatham).

The inner-war immigration changed the distribution of Czechs in Canada, where more of them settled in urban communities instead of the country. The biggest communities were created in Ontario and Quebec, where Montreal (3,700 Czechs in 1920′) and Toronto (2,500 in 1920′) became primary Czech centres. Other new Czech “homes” became cities like Hamilton, Kitchener, Ottawa and Calgary). In the year 1931 the census counted around 30,000 Czechoslovakians in Canada. (more…)

Prior to the first major immigration wave (1880) the majority of Czechs settled in the US. From there some of them moved to western Canada which was known for its vast and cheap land. ” The Canadian government, in conjunction with the Canadian Pacific Railway, sponsored a number of similar colonization schemes, promising that upon arrival the immigrant could begin ploughing on a selected piece of land. These colonization schemes usually involved partial payment for transport overseas and by rail across the continent, and offered attractive, but not obligatory, land-purchase plans. These did not always work out, and many immigrants had to work on others’ farms or in the railway and mining industries before they received their own land. As a result, many never became farmers but stayed in their first jobs. In many cases, these migrants adapted to their new life and decided to stay in Canada instead of returning home. Many then arranged for their wives and children to join them” .

Czech immigration to Canada can be devided into 4 phases:

(more…)