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Times Like These - Jiri Dienstbier 1937 - 2011
- Joined the Communist Party in 1950
- Worked as a reporter and presenter for Czech Radio 1958-69 including stint as correspondent in America
- As a supporter of Alexander Dubcek's liberalizations of the Prague Spring in 1968 he later fell from grace as hardline communists initiated a clamp down on freedom of expression
- Forced to do menial work such as nightwatchman and boilerman (gruelling shifts shovelling coal into a furnace)
- Signed Charter 77 calling for restoration of civil liberties
- Imprisoned for "anti-state" activities 1979-1982
- Suddenly following the Velvet Revolution of 1989 he is appointed Foreign Minister by Vaclav Havel - apparently he had to finish fueling the boiler before taking up the post!
Despite the trials and tribulations of his life he always maintained a good sense of humour. Theorizing about the size of the American's GDP he explained it thus: "When their lightbulbs go, they call in an electrician and pay him for putting in another one: We Czechs replace lightbulbs ourselves, so the operation doesn't get recorded in our GDP."
Links to obits:
The Independent obit published 10 days after his death beats The Guardian obit which was published 16 days after his death - come on you English hacks!
