Writer Ivan Kadlečík dies

THE LAST Slovak representative of samizdat literature, writer, poet and essayist Ivan Kadlečík, died at the age of 76, the Sme.sk website reported on July 15.

Kadlečík was born on April 8, 1938 in Modra into a family of a Protestant priest. He studied Slovak language and literature at Comenius University in Bratislava, from which he graduated in 1961. Following school, Kadlečík worked in the city archive in Košice, and later in the regional branch of the Pravda daily. Between 1968 and 1970 he served as editor-in-chief of cultural biweekly Matičné Čítanie in Martin.

Because of his political views, he lost his job and was excluded from the Association of Slovak Writers, and he could not officially publish his works during the normalisation, i.e. the period after the suppressed 1968’s Prague Spring, Sme.sk wrote.

He joined Slovak and Czech samizdat authors and published several books by the end of communism. After 1989, he published two scientific volumes, more than 10 prose works and several essays.

He was awarded the Dominik Tatarka Prize, the Ján Langoš Prize, a prize from the culture minister and the Ľudovít Štúr Order 2nd class, Sme.sk reported.