Mládková, Masopust and husband and wife Dvořák have honorary citizenship of Prague
Mládková, who was unable to attend, was represented by Jiří Pospíšil, Chairman of the Board of the Jan and Meda Mládková Foundation and politician. At the same time, the mayor presented the silver medal of the capital to scientist Radim Šrám and the bronze archivist Maria Zdeňková.
The Dvořáks, as members of Professor Antonín Holý’s team, are involved in the development of antivirals used today in the treatment of HIV and AIDS. Around the year 2000, patents began to generate significant income for them, which is used for public benefit services. For example, they founded the Experientia Foundation, which this year donated 200 million crowns to support young scientists. They also support other public benefit projects. They have long-term cooperation with the non-profit organization People in Need and support the Via Foundation and the Czech Philharmonic.
“It’s a great honor for us, we appreciate it and take it as an award not only to us, but to the entire foundation, to the other people who run it. And it is also a commitment for us in the future, “said Dvořák today when taking over the honorary citizenship.
Another of the winners was General Masopust, who fought during World War II on the Eastern Front. Originally from Volhynia, Bohemia came to Prague in 1945, after participating in the Slovak National Uprising as commander of the supply battery. Before that, at the beginning of September 1944, he fought in the Dukelsky Pass. From 1947 he served in the army in various commanding positions in the artillery. From 2002 to 2004 he was the vice-president of the Czechoslovak Legionary Community.
His wife Helena spoke for the veteran. She mentioned in connection with the capital that her husband always tried to improve the surroundings in his place of residence. “Everywhere he was, he had to get involved and started planting trees, weeding, raking leaves and so on,” she described. Masopust himself, who has hearing problems, only took over his diploma and thanked him for the honor.
Transfer of honorary citizenship of the Capital City of Prague to Mrs. Meda Mládková 👇🏻🙂
Posted by Jiří Pospíšil on Wednesday, September 23, 2020
Mládková, who recently celebrated 101 years, was unable to attend the ceremony. Together with her husband, she founded the Jan and Meda Mládek Foundation and created the Kampa Museum, for which she had the historic buildings of the Owl Mills reconstructed. His collections include, among others, the largest private collections of works by František Kupka from the original collections of the Mládek couple. She also took care of saving the nearby Werich villa and making it accessible to the public.
“Thanks to Meda Mládková, we have one of the most beautiful small art museums in Europe in Prague,” Pospíšil said in a laudation. He added that during her many years of activity, her main motivation was to support Czech culture and artists who lived in communist conditions, often fell into despair and stopped creating. “I think he is one of the most important personalities in Czech modern history,” he said.
The silver medal of the capital was taken over by the mayor of molecular epidemiology and genetics Šrám, which deals, for example, with research into the effect of air on health. The bronze medal was won by Zdeňková, who as an archivist and historian deals mainly with the history of Prague 15 and the personality of a native of Hostivař, the first republican chairman of the agrarian party, Antonín Švehla.
Since 1990, the capital has granted honorary citizenship to sixty personalities, including Zdeněk Svěrák, Jiřina Bohdalová, Sona Červená, Jiří Suchý, Dana Zátopková, Nicholas Winton, Miloš Forman and Jiří Menzel.