Jan Křen
Jan Křen | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Jan Křen in 2014 | |
| Born | 22 August 1930 |
| Died | 7 April 2020 (aged 89) Prague, Czech Republic |
| Occupation | Historian |
Jan Křen (22 August 1930 – 7 April 2020) was a Czech historian, academic, dissident during Czechoslovakia's communist era, and a Charter 77 signatory. He specialized in the study of Czech-German relations.[1][2][3]
Career
[edit]In 1960s, Křen became one of the first Czechoslovak historians to document and research the expulsion of the Sudeten Germans from the country at the end of World War II.[2] He was originally a member of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia from 1949 to 1969, but was expelled in 1970 over his opposition to the Warsaw Pact invasion.[1][2] Křen was also fired as professor and forced to work as a manual laborer.[2] He became involved with the pro-democracy dissident movement, being one of the founding signatories of Charter 77 and began holding a series of underground seminars held covertly in apartments and universities.[1][2] Křen was also a co-founder of the Samizdat historical studies journal.[2] In 1980s, he published one of his best known books, "Conflicting Communities. Czechs and Germans 1780–1918", through his own Sixty-Eight Publishers – an illegal, underground publisher. The book was later published in Germany.[2]
In 1989, Křen founded the Institute of International Studies at Charles University and served as its first director.[2] [4] He also co-founded and chaired the Czech-German Commission of Historians and was involved with the Czech-German Fund of the Future.[2] Křen was a visiting professor at German universities in Berlin, Bremen and Marburg.[2]
President of Germany awarded Křen the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 2000.[2] In 2002, President of the Czech Republic Vaclav Havel, a fellow Charter 77 signatory, awarded Křen the Medal of Merit.[1] He also won the 2006 Magnesia Litera book award for best educational book for "Two Centuries of Central Europe."[2]
Death
[edit]Křen was believed to have contracted COVID-19 at the nursing home where he lived in the Michle district of Prague in March 2020.[1] On 7 April 2020, he died from at the age of 89 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Czech Republic.[1][2][3]
Awards
[edit]- Goethe Medal (1996)
- Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (2000)[2]
- Medal of Merit of the Czech Republic (2002)[1]
- Magnesia Litera Award for educational literature book of the year (2006)[2]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g Willoughby, Ian (8 April 2020). "Historian Jan Křen dies at 89 after contracting coronavirus". Radio Prague (in Czech). Archived from the original on 9 April 2020. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "Zemřel historik Jan Křen. S nemocí covid-19 se léčil v Nemocnici Na Bulovce". Czech Radio (in Czech). 7 April 2020. Archived from the original on 7 April 2020. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
- ^ a b "Zemřel historik Jan Křen, zaměřoval se na česko-německé vztahy". Denik (in Czech). Vltava Labe Media. 7 April 2020. Archived from the original on 9 April 2020. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
- ^ "Professor Jan Křen, founder of the Institute of International Studies, died". Faculty of Social Services at Charles University. 7 April 2020. Archived from the original on 9 April 2020. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| People | |
| Other | |
- 1930 births
- 2020 deaths
- 20th-century Czech historians
- Czech non-fiction writers
- Czechoslovak historians
- Charter 77 signatories
- Czech democracy activists
- Communist Party of Czechoslovakia politicians
- Czech Republic–Germany relations
- Recipients of Medal of Merit (Czech Republic)
- Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
- Academic staff of Charles University
- Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in the Czech Republic
- Writers from Prague