Petr Pavel honored Forman, Čáslavská, Janžurová and Illnerová at the Castle
On the occasion of the anniversary of the establishment of independent Czechoslovakia, President Petr Pavel awarded state honors for the fourth time. The highest Czech state honor, the Order of the White Lion, was presented at a ceremonial event at Prague Castle to four personalities - in memoriam to gymnast Věra Čáslavská and director Miloš Forman, and also to actress Iva Janžurová and former President of the Czech Academy of Sciences Helena Illnerová.
Even before the ceremony itself, there was speculation about who would actually receive the award. For example, the betting company Fortuna designated the daughter of the first Czechoslovak president, Alice Garrigue Masaryková, as the main favorite with odds of 1.15. She was followed by film director Karel Zeman, writer Milan Kundera, speed skater Metoděj Jílek, and director Juraj Herz.
From the preliminary list of the Chamber of Deputies, it was also clear this time that some well-known names would not be nominated, such as former Minister of Defense Luboš Dobrovský and Minister of Culture Daniel Herman, former diplomat Michael Žantovský, businessman Radim Passer, actor Milan Kňažko, hockey player Jiří Šlégr, and TV host Václav Moravec.
Pavel followed in the footsteps of Havel and Klaus
In the end, those who already held the Medal of Merit from the past were particularly successful. Director Miloš Forman and gymnast Věra Čáslavská received it in 1995 from President Václav Havel. Helena Illnerová then in 2005 from Václav Klaus, as well as Iva Janžurová a year later.
"I am very happy, it was beautiful. Tomorrow I will think about whether I deserve it, today I don't allow myself such self-critical thinking. What else can I do but be grateful and happy,"
quoted Janžurová ČTK.
The Order of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, the second highest state decoration, was awarded by Pavel in memoriam to former Senate President Jaroslav Kubera, Czechoslovak diplomat Vladimír Vochoč, dissident and first post-November Minister of Foreign Affairs Jiří Dienstbier, and historian, dissident and diplomat Jaroslav Šedivý.
In memoriam The Order of TGM then belongs to former senator and president of the Supreme Court and vice-president of the Constitutional Court Eliška Wagnerová. Furthermore, Pavel honored social worker and human rights activist Elena Gorolová, who according to the Castle was instrumental in securing compensation for women who were unlawfully sterilized, and finally also Milena Grenfell-Bainesová, one of the children rescued by Nicholas Winton. According to the president, she has been instrumental in spreading his legacy, especially among young people.
Problematic Zeman
Members of Parliament also proposed, among other things, Pavel's predecessor in office, Miloš Zeman. However, his chances were very low. According to bookmakers, the odds that he would receive the award were around 30.0. All this was in light of the fact that Zeman has been avoiding participation in this event in recent years. He announced in advance this year that he would rather prefer the assembly of the Czech Union of Freedom Fighters, which is headed by former communist and border guard school student Jaroslav Vodička. The union is associated with a number of questionable actions that have occurred in the past, including the award given to communist member of parliament Zdeněk Ondráček. Before November 1989, he participated in interventions against anti-regime demonstrations.
Zeman himself had already been stirring up controversy during the time when he was president and was awarding the honors. He couldn't resist taking several rather problematic steps: For example, successful businessman Jaroslav Strnad received the Medal of Merit at that time. His companies had contributed millions of crowns to Zeman's presidential campaign.
From the field of culture, during Zeman's period, musicians Ondřej Hejma, who was listed in StB files under the nickname Rony during the totalitarian era, Michal David, and actor Ivan Vyskočil were honored. Also decorated at that time was Ivanka Kohoutová, headmistress of the Secondary Medical School, who had banned two Muslim girls from wearing the hijab at school.
Dictators, MPs or Pioneer of Pornfolk
And if we look even further into history, we find that communist president Ludvík Svoboda awarded the Cuban dictator Fidel Castro in this way in 1972, and Gustáv Husák awarded General Wojciech Jaruzelski before he declared a state of emergency in Poland in 1981 to suppress the Solidarity movement. The symbol of normalization in Czechoslovakia also couldn't resist lending the Order of the White Lion to the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi or the Ethiopian Marxist dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam.
The list of nominees from readers of the iDnes portal this year also included some bizarre names, who in the poll highlighted, among others, controversial MPs Jindřich Rajchl and Filip Turek, as well as constitutional lawyer Aleš Gerloch, who failed in the first round of the recent Senate elections. For example, Milan Smrčka, known as "Záviš", was also included. His work, which contains a large amount of profane language, is sometimes referred to as so-called "pornofolk".
Sources: author's article, ČTK, ČT, iDnes.cz
