Vladimír Junek died. Son of racing legend Eliška Junková
Friday, August 19 of this year was the last day in the life of Mr. Vladimír Junk, the son of our most famous female racer and motoring legend Eliška Junková. We thank Jiří V. Řezáč for an interesting contribution.
Vladimír Junek with the buggatka, i.e. the car that his mother Eliška Junková loved.
| Photo: Deník/Petr Vaňous
The family title is not entirely accurate, because Mrs. Eliška was his blood aunt and Vladimír’s real mother was her sister. But she died when Vladimir was still very young and he continued to live with his father. He was due to undergo repeated, demanding surgery, so an agreement was reached with his sister-in-law Eliška Junková that she would take five-year-old Vladimír into her care.
Vladimir had the surname Pospíšil. Eliška adopted him as her son and from then on he was named Junek. Vladimir himself considered and called his aunt his mother for life.
In 1894, Čeněk Junek, future competitor and husband of Eliška Junková, was born in Dolní Čermná. On the basis of his work results at the Prague Loan Bank, he was entrusted with the establishment and management of a new branch in Olomouc, the capital of Haná. That was Čeňk’s move, because it was here that fate met his future wife, the then Alžběta Pospíšilová.
After completing the task, he leaves for Brno to establish a new branch, where he also married Alžběta, who performed in four languages. Her hobby included playing the piano, which she subsequently studied in Brno at the conservatory in today’s Besední dům, whose director was maestro Leoš Janáček himself.
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After marrying Čeňek Junko, Alžběta changed not only her surname, but also her first name, because it resonated with her address abroad as Elizabet, to the honored Eliška. I knew Mrs. Eliška personally when she used to come to Brno to the Masaryk circuit for car races, and that was to the original classic circuit, and then to the newly built automotodrome, and as a commentator for the audience I had the honor of interviewing her in local radio.
Mrs. Eliška raced on the Bugatti brand from 1924 to 1928 and left racing activities on the day when her husband, the creator of Eliška the Racer, became the first victim on the German circuit Nürburgring, nicknamed the Green Hell. The first lady of Czechoslovak motorsport died in 1993 at the age of 93 and became an immortal legend of motor racing. In 2016, the honorary citizenship of Prague 1 was already granted, which was taken over by the son Vladimír. He maintained her memory through various interviews and publications on the life and racing of his mother Eliška.
Mr. Vladimír Junek worked in the aviation industry and at the Ministry of Transport. He repeatedly visited the Brno racing circuit and was keenly interested in current events and motor sports. He was very active until he was 83 years old, and when I was asked how he was at this time, he once answered: “Up until now, it was going well, but after eighty-three it’s hard work…” He lived in Prague-Kobylisy and spent the summer at a cottage in the southern Bohemia in Vraz. He left this world there on August 19, 2022 at the age of 87.
Honor his memory.
Jiří V. Řezáč