Tigrid, Pavel

He was born in Prague, his father was a Jew , but he baptized his son a Catholic to make his life easier. He fully realized his Jewish origin, after the introduction of the so-called. Nuremberg racial laws . His family came from the city of Semily, his great-grandfather, Pavel Schonfeld, was the tenant of the Semilsk brewery and the owner of real estate, for his work on the welfare of the city he was awarded the honorary citizenship of the city of Semily. Pavel Tigrid was engaged in creativity since his student years. Together with his friends, he founded the avant-garde theater group of young people in Prague, who organized not only avant-garde performances, but also recitatory and discussion evenings. After graduating from high school, he entered the Law Faculty of Charles University in Prague. Simultaneously with his studies at the university, he began working in a student magazine in which he published his first journalistic works. The gymnasium in Ostrava was named after him. ^{[3] [4]}

Pavel Tigrid emigrated for the first time in 1939, during the German occupation . Tigrid with his friend Joseph Cervinka issued a pass to Slovakia with the Gestapo , but went on a Java motorcycle through Germany to England . In Holland, they received a British visa and at the end of March 1939, Pavel Tigrid settled in England. First, he worked as a storekeeper, later got a job as a waiter in a London hotel. In exile, he also continued to develop his theatrical and journalistic activities. ^[five]

Jobs at BBC

After the German attack on Poland, the BBC radio station launched a broadcast in Czech and Slovak. Then Tigrid began working at the radio station as a translator and radio announcer. The programs of the government of Czechoslovak emigration were originally called “Talk with the Motherland” ( Hovory s domovem ), but in 1943 the program was renamed “The Voice of Free Czechoslovakia”. Here Tigrid also used his pseudonym for the first time, which he invented when he recalled to the gymnasium, where he confused the Tigris River with “Tigrid”. In addition to his work at the BBC, he also worked in the monthly journal Cultural Notebook , which informed about Czechoslovak artistic work, primarily literary. In 1943, Review 43 began to be published , in which Tigrid wanted to acquaint the West with Czechoslovak culture. The magazine published English translations of older and modern Czechoslovak creativity. ^{[6] [7]}

After the end of World War II, Pavel Tigrid returned to Czechoslovakia. Then he first learned that in addition to his stepsister, none of his family survived the Nazi terror. His father died before the beginning of 1940. Tigrid received from the Minister of Information Vaclav Kopetsky a job offer on the radio station, but later it turned out that his political views did not correspond to the new regime, and instead he started working in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs , from which Tigrid was soon fired, because of his note Eternal question of our history (Věčná otázka našich dějin) printed in People's Democracy (Národní demokracie). Because of this, he was able to devote himself entirely to journalism. He created the magazine Horizons (Obzory) , which published articles about the events of political and cultural life. Tigrid published articles on literature of Czechoslovak emigration or theater reviews in Horizon magazine (Horizonty), and wrote political articles about his anti-communist views. The magazine has repeatedly opposed the aspirations of the Ministry of Information, to eliminate it. Later, Tigrid created another magazine called Development ( Rozvoj ). ^[3]

Before the beginning of the communist regime in Czechoslovakia, Pavel Tigrid went as a journalist to Germany and did not return, fearing arrest. Unfortunately, his wife remained in Czechoslovakia. She wanted to leave for him, but did not receive permission to leave, was detained and spent several days under arrest. When the communists realized that Tigrid would not return, his wife was released from custody. In Germany, he again worked as a journalist and also tried to improve conditions in the emigre camps where the Czechs lived. In 1948, Tigrid began editing the weekly magazine Svoboda , one of the first Czech emigre journals. Tigrid received much attention from the Independent Review of Reality , which created a younger generation of immigrants in Geneva . ^{[8] [7]}

Radio Liberty

In 1949, the US Congress created the Free European National Committee, through which the US government tried to uphold democratic principles and prevent the growing influence of communism in Central and Eastern Europe. By creating a branch in Munich for the Czechoslovak transmission, Tigrid was entrusted with this task. This is the most famous initiative of the Czechoslovak emigration in the struggle against the communist regime. The communists were aware of the danger of foreign emigration, and therefore the transfer from the beginning to 1988 was prohibited. Soon disputes began to grow between the editors of Munich and New York . Munich refused the influence of New York on their programs, they refused to air programs that were often divorced from reality. Because of these disputes, Tigrid was fired. In late 1952, he and his family moved to the USA , where he worked as a waiter and studied at the university. ^{[3] [9]}

Sviditelstvo Journal (Svědectví)

In 1956, Pavel Tigrid created Testimony magazine, a cultural and political quarterly magazine. In the magazine he wrote about the events of cultural life, published Eastern European literature to show people the cultural development in countries dominated by the socialist regime. In 1960, Pavel Tigrid moved with his family and editorial staff to Paris , where he also met Václav Havel for the first time. In addition to his work in the editorial office of the Certificate , he also collaborated with the chief editor of the Czechoslovak section of the BBC program Zdenek Mastnik and participated in the broadcasting of Free Europe . ^[ten]

After the Velvet Revolution, he collaborated in the Czech Republic with Vaclav Havel and in 1989, at his invitation, returned to Czechoslovakia. In 1994–1996, Tigrid worked as Minister of Culture in the government of Vaclav Klaus in the Czech Republic . In 2003, Tigrid decided to voluntarily die and quit taking medicines. Pavel Tigrid died on August 31, 2003 in France . ^[eleven]

Pavel Tigrid is the author of many articles, essays, reviews, notes, and books. In addition to journalistic activities, he also wrote several books. Most of his works have been translated into several world languages ​​- into English , French , Italian , Portuguese , German or Japanese . ^[3]

• Politická emigrace v atomovém věku (1968, Paříž, Praha - 1990)
• Kapesní průvodce inteligentní ženy po vlastním osudu (1988, Toronto)
• Dnešek je váš, zítřek je náš: dělnické revolty v komunistických zemích (1990, Praha)
• Glosy o české politice 1996–1999 (1999, Praha)
• Marx na Hradčanech
• Přikládáme sekeru ke kořenům lži (2016, Praha)
• Poslední den pana T
• Mně se nestýskalo (2010)
• Jak to šlo (1993)
• Workers against the proletarian state - London: OPI, 1984. - 177 p. ISBN 0-903868-61-X