Singer Kubišová and violinist Hudeček will be honorary citizens of Prague
Updates: 16.05.2022 11:23
Released: 15.05.2022, 13:42
Prague – Singer Marta Kubišová will become an honorary citizen of Prague. He will receive the award for his artistic contribution to Czech culture and at the same time for extraordinary deeds with personal heroism during the invasion of the Warsaw Pact troops in August 1968 and during the period of normalization. Along with the 70-year-old Kubišová, the violinist Václav Hudeček (1952) will also become an honorary citizen, and the doctor Milena Černá (1942) will receive the silver medal of the capital. This follows from a document approved by Prague councilors today. The granting of honorary citizenship has yet to be approved by city councilors.
The beginnings of Kubišová’s singing career are connected with performing at the Rococo Theater. One of the first hits is the originally French song Loudá se crescent. In Rokok, she met Václav Neckář and Helena Vondráčková, with whom she formed the Golden Kids trio. After the occupation of Czechoslovakia by the Warsaw Pact troops, her song Prayer for Marta became a symbol of resistance against the occupation. She had been banned from performing since February 1970 and the regime also prevented her from finding employment. She signed Charter 77 and became one of her spokespersons.
Kubišová also became one of the faces of the Velvet Revolution in 1989, when she sang the Prayer for Marta to the crowded Wenceslas Square. After the revolution, she returned to the podium. She ended her career about five years ago. Kubišová is also the holder of the Medal of Merit II. degree, Honorary Medal of TG Masaryk, St. Wenceslas Decoration or the French Order of the Legion of Honor.
The 69-year-old violin virtuoso Hudeček will receive an award for his services in spreading Czech music and the reputation of the capital in the world. In 1967 he won the Concertino Praga competition for young artists and at the age of fifteen he performed at a concert in London with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. In his career he was also a soloist with the Czechoslovak Philharmonic. He was also at the birth of the Music Holidays festival in Prague.
The city management also decided to award a silver medal to Doctor Černá for extraordinary merits in the social and health field. Among other things, Černá worked at the Department of Dermatovenerology of the General University Hospital (VFN) as a secondary school and also lectured at the Faculty of General Medicine of Charles University. She was a signatory to Charter 77 and a member of the Board of the Goodwill Committee-Olga Havel Foundation.
Prague values its important inhabitants in several ways. The highest personal award given to the capital is honorary citizenship. Since 1990, the metropolis has awarded it to Jaroslav Foglar, Zdeněk Svěrák, Jiří Bělohlávek, Jiří Suchý, Dana Zátopková and Miloš Forman, among others.