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Born on Jan 14, 1934, Nemcova was one of many first individuals to signal Constitution 77, a human rights manifesto impressed by Vaclav Havel, a fellow dissident who later became president. Nemcova herself turned one of many constitution’s spokespersons.
The doc was a uncommon expression of resistance to the hard-line communist regime that took over after the 1968 Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia which crushed the liberal reform interval referred to as the Prague Spring.
The constitution united opponents of the regime, together with non secular activists, ex-communists expelled from the get together after the 1968 invasion, and likewise rock musicians, intellectuals and pre-World Battle II democrats.
Its signatories braved persecution from the regime, exercising what Havel dubbed ″the facility of the powerless.″
Nemcova, the mom of seven and a psychologist by career, was amongst them.
In 1979, she spent six months in detention earlier than receiving a two-year suspended sentence for subversion of the republic. She was banned from working towards as a psychologist and solely allowed to take menial jobs, equivalent to cleansing.
Nemcova and her husband, Jiri Nemec, turned their condo in Prague into one of many facilities of anti-communist resistance, however needed to face repeated interrogations and raids.
She as soon as mentioned that signing the constitution was a method for her to “keep identification and dignity.”
Nemcova additionally co-founded the Committee for the Protection of the Unjustly Persecuted, which supported these going through oppression by the state, from police harassment to unjust prosecution.
After the 1989 anti-communist Velvet Revolution led by Havel, Nemcova served as a lawmaker within the parliament of Czechoslovakia till 1992. She later chaired the board of the Olga Havel Basis established by Havel’s first spouse, which focuses on serving to disabled and deserted individuals, in addition to these going through discrimination.
Within the Nineties, she established an info heart for refugees and a migration heart, working particularly with these fleeing the wars within the former Yugoslavia.
In 1998, she was awarded a state honor by Havel, who was by then president.
“Dana Nemcova was a rare individual, courageous and deeply human who along with her persistent and constant protection of human rights contributed considerably to our freedom and democracy,” Prime Minister Petr Fiala mentioned.
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