Ivan Klíma, the Czech author who defied political oppression in his novels and plays, has died at 94, the New York Times reports.
Klíma, born in Prague, was 7 years old when the Nazis invaded the city. He and his family, who had Jewish heritage, were imprisoned at the Terezín concentration camp for nearly four years. After the camp was liberated in 1945, Klíma returned to Prague, where he worked as an editor at a journal and joined the Communist Party. He soured on the party and was expelled, which led to his work being banned in the country for almost 20 years. During that time, he joined the country’s literary underground, helping distribute banned books to fellow Czech dissidents.
He published his first novel, An Hour of Silence, in 1963. Several more would follow, including A Ship Named Hope, A Summer Affair, Judge on Trial, Love and Garbage, and Waiting for the Dark, Waiting for the Light. In 2013, he published an autobiography, My Crazy Century, translated by Craig Cravens; a critic for Kirkus called it “a fitting capstone to a distinguished literary life.”
In a 2016 interview with the Los Angeles Review of Books, Klíma reflected on withdrawing from public life.
“The only thing I really like to do is write,” he said. “Once we achieved the important goal of removing communism, I felt my job was done. Writing is a specific profession, which is interested mainly in the fate of human beings.”
He was asked whether he believed that his books defied death.
“Each of my books opposes death because I have written about life,” he replied. “My books insist on life and therefore they defy death.”
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
