28 Feb 2023/PSSI
It is with profound sadness that we have learned that Helena Kašperová, a former PSSI Board Member, as well as a valued and dear friend has passed away at the age of 74. She was also a long-time partner of Oldřich Černý, the Institute's esteemed Co-Founder and Executive Director, who passed away in 2012.
Helena was an influential and respected figure on the Czechoslovak artistic, literary and political scene. During the normalization, Helena served as a secretary at the Semafor theatre. She also worked at the State Theatre Studio, Albatros Publishing House and for seven years at Svoboda Publishing House as editor-in-chief.
After the revolution in 1989, she spent three years as secretary of the Chancellery of the President of the Republic, Václav Havel. "It was a race through history," she said of her years in the presidential office. From 1993 to 2015, she served as a reprise dramaturge at Czech Television.
Helena witnessed, and contributed to, significant events that shaped Czechoslovakia and, subsequently, the Czech Republic. We remember her with immense fondness and respect. Our thoughts and prayers go out to her family, friends and colleagues.