Lukavský claimed that people in the Vysočina region are more honest, says a writer from Brno
Her seventh book in a row has been published by Sursum and is supported by Nové Město na Moravě. It was named the Region of Returns and Cognition, and a ceremonial baptism awaits it on Sunday, November 21, at 3 pm in the Horácká Gallery in Nové Město. As in previous publications, in this case Věra Rudolfová focuses on more or less well-known personalities who are in some way connected with Vysočina, especially with Novoměstsko. Why and what actually enchanted this region? “I think that the special character of this landscape is mainly responsible for that. The hills are not steep, the sight of their gradual, undulating line directly calms the person. Even the clouds in the high sky flow somehow cool. Mysterious forests invite to walks, flowering meadows to sit, large ponds to swim. This part of the Vysočina region has its charm even in winter. She is really stiff and rough here, but the snow adds to her seriousness and dignity. It is a region where the air still smells and silence sounds. The region of eternal returns, “the Brno writer bows to the Vysočina region.
Věra Rudolfová’s new book was called The Region of Returns and Cognition.The region of eternal returns is called your first book.
I didn’t invent it myself. So about Vysočina, academic painter and restorer Věramlová Zezuláková. And I think that celebrities returned to the Highlands also to meet the locals. Actor Radovan Lukavský claimed that people here are so cleaner and more honest.
How do you choose personalities for other books and where do you look for inspiration?
I got to know some artists who were born in the Vysočina region or drew inspiration for their work here during my time at Czech Radio Brno. When I wrote about their lives, I could start from the shots I took with them. But gradually I discovered other personalities of the cultural life of the northern part of the Vysočina region. Personalities lesser known or almost forgotten who have done a piece of meritorious work for the cultural development of the region. I wanted to learn as much as possible about them. That’s why I was looking for their family, friends and other witnesses. Research in the archives also helped me, either in the State District Archive in Žďár nad Sázavou or in the Horácký Museum and Horácká Gallery in Nové Město na Moravě. And I found out that so many personalities are associated with this region that it is an almost inexhaustible well of inspiration.
In your new book, which you called The Region of Returns and Cognition, you captured twenty-three other personalities. Which one is closest to you?
It is difficult to choose a single personality. I will list at least three. Among them is the academic painter Jaroslav Polanský from Herálec, who taught as a room painter and at the age of 36 applied to study at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague. He finished it in 1949, but remained loyal to Vysočina. He continued to farm, work in the fields or in the woods. In his native cottage, however, he set up a modest studio in a small attic room. Of his landscape paintings, perhaps the most famous are the paintings from the forest on Žákovo hora.
And the second personality?
Conductor Oldřich Bohuňovský. This was another example of how talented people are born in the Vysočina region. He graduated from the Janáček Academy of Performing Arts in Brno. For several years he was the director of the Folk Art School in Nové Město na Moravě. Then he worked as a conductor mainly in Moravian theaters and eventually became the head of the opera of the Josef Kajetán Tyl Theater in Pilsen. In May 1997, Káťa Kabanová was to conduct Janáček’s opera at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London. But death did not allow him. She came for him on September 22, 1996.
The story of which third person connected with Vysočina appealed to you the most?
An interesting and versatile figure was Mirko Rosenbaum, a conservationist and painting lawyer. He worked as a judge from 1946 in Nové Město na Moravě and then in Žďár nad Sázavou. Its name is associated with the establishment of the Protected Landscape Area Žďárské vrchy. From 1968 to 1972 he was the director of the Horácký Museum and the Horácká Gallery in Nové Město na Moravě. These institutions were then united. The native of Kroměříž enchanted Vysočina so much that he worked in this region for twenty-six years.
You also mention personalities connected with Brno or South Moravia. For example, Primate Slávek Volavý from Strážnice, whose family comes from Habří. Have you been to visit the village where the successors of his family still live?
Of course. It is important for the author to look at the places that are associated with certain personalities. First I visited Habří, where the Volavý family comes from. There is still a farm where Slavek Volavý’s father was born. It is currently being converted into a guest house run by Marie Buchtová, behind the free Volava. Then I went to Krčma, which is a small settlement that belongs to the village Meziboří. It probably got its name from the former inn. There are only four houses. In March 10, 1922, Jan Volavý and his wife Maria had a son, Vítězslav, in one of them. However, house number 4 already looks different than in Slávek’s childhood. Opposite him, however, still stands a wooden bell tower, which has been ringing for several generations. Little Slavek didn’t even ring it once. But it rang so long and persistently that it scared the people around. They thought something had happened in the settlement. The perpetrator, of course, received a proper beating after this act. I also looked at the river Bobrůvka, where the primate Slávek Volavý liked to go with his daughters Tatiana and Zuzana.
You are also reminiscent of the personality of Jiří Brady, whom Newcomers still remember. How does his daughter Lara remember him?
Mrs. Lara Hana Brady remembers her father with love and respect. During her visits to Nové Město na Moravě, she often accompanied him. The last visit took place in October 2016. At that time, everyone expected Jiří Brady to receive a state award for his work for the mutual benefit of human tolerance. We know how it turned out in the end. Jiří Brady did not receive the award from the President of the Republic. He arrived in his hometown on October 30, 2016. The news of his arrival spread quickly. At noon, almost four hundred Newcomers gathered in front of the town hall to provide support and respect to their native. It was a very touching meeting. Mrs. Lara confirmed that for her father, returning to the New Town was a real return home.
What did the writer František Kožík have in common with the new town?
František Kožík arrived in Nové Město na Moravě for the first time in December 1933, in preparation for a live radio broadcast. At that time, he worked as a reporter, announcer and playwright in the Brno branch of Radiojournal. The show was broadcast on January 4, 1934 and was designed to introduce the audience to the best possible character of the whole region. Among other things, there was a report from the ski races and a visit to the factory of the Slonk brothers. A discussion with mountaineering artists was found at Maršovská rychta. It was there that František Kožík met the director Jaroslav Křička, the writer Petr Křička and their sister Pavla. He got on well with Jaroslav Křička and even became his librettist. The writer’s daughter, Mrs. Alena Kožíková, kindly lent me letters that Jaroslav Křička wrote to her father. They mainly concerned cooperation on the comedy Záhořanský hon and the operetta Polka Wins.
Novoměstsko is traditionally associated with skiing. Will readers find any personalities from the world of this sport in the new publication?
They will find. He is Leoš Stehlík. Enthusiastic skier, successful racer and Olympian. He participated in many domestic and foreign competitions. For example, he was the two-time winner of the international 50-kilometer race, which took place in 1930 in Schreiberhau. He won a silver medal in the relay race, which took place in Davos the same year. But that was before he and his wife Aglaia started building a sports and recreation center in Medlov. About the project of the sought-after architect Alois Wachsman. The resort began operating in 1934. In the 1950s, however, the fate of this sports center, which over time became a hotel, lacked any idyll. And the life story of the Stehlík couple and their three daughters was no longer idyllic. In 1952, most of the recreation centers came under the administration of ROH and the Stehlík family had to leave Medlov. Leoš Stehlík, as a former self-employed person, had a hard time looking for a job. In 1957, mining began in the Uranium mines in Dolní Rožínka, Leoš Stehlík began working in the Rožná mine. On March 23, 1959, a tragic accident occurred in this mine, in which he lost his life.
Věra Rudolfová.Věra Rudolfová
She was born in 1942.
She graduated from the Faculty of Social Sciences and Journalism at Charles University in Prague, where she graduated in 1969.
For twenty-seven years she worked as an editor at Czech Radio Brno.
She began writing in literature after retirement.
In 2002, the Horácké Museum in Nové Město na Moravě published the book The City of My Heart, which Věra Rudolfová dedicated to the personality of Nové Město na Moravě.
In the following years, the publications Region of Eternal Returns, Region of Returns and Encounters, Region of Returns and Inspiration, Region of Returns and Memories, Region of Returns and Remains, and Region of Returns and Farewells were published.
In 2007, she edited Josef Kosinka’s memory for a book edition, entitled Kosinka’s Žďár Chronicle.
Věra Rudolfová has a permanent residence in Brno, but she mostly stays in a cottage in Olešná near Nové Město na Moravě.
He has two daughters and three granddaughters, to whom he devotes the most time.
Her hobbies include not only literary work and reading, but also visits to theaters and exhibitions, Slovak songs and long walks with the dog.