Kateřina Spurná

* 1956

  • “I would cite Jarda, my husband, he says that critical thinking is the thing. To teach children critical thinking. I don't know how I would explain it to them, or what teachers should be doing. Nowadays, people would believe such things that it would make you wonder. They would forget what life was, that they should cherish it, and that even modesty would bring you satisfaction. That if I would give someone something or if I would do something for him, even I would feel good.”

  • “As you asked about jobs... We were thinking that we didn't need to go to school, as after that, if you wanted to remain a decent human being, you couldn't get a proper job anyway. So we were thinking that we didn't need to graduate from secondary school anyway. That if we would work hard, we would earn ourselves a living. So that was the easy part. And my class teacher told me: 'Kateřina, one day, you will regret it, that you didn't graduate.'”

  • “Well, all the time we had almost no money, and I remember that when my mother wanted to get me a new dress, she had to make it herself. In fact I still don't know how to shop properly. Back then the shops were just empty. I don't remember a single occasion of me and my mother going shopping together. That was just crazy.”

  • Celé nahrávky
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    Praha, 09.12.2020

    (audio)
    délka: 58:04
    nahrávka pořízena v rámci projektu The Stories of Our Neigbours
  • 2

    Praha, 09.06.2021

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    délka: 01:17:07
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Freedom has to be cherished

Kateřina Spurná (en)
Kateřina Spurná (en)
zdroj: žákovský tým

Kateřina Spurná née Nováková was born on 11 December 1956 in the then of Gottwaldov (today‘s Zlín). She spent most of her childhood at her grandparent‘s house in Napajedla. Her parents divorced when she was nine years old. She had been raised in the spirit of anti-communism, which was even intensified by the August 1968 Warsaw pact invasion. She decided to drop out from secondary school before graduation. With her husband, Jaroslav Spurný, she got involved with the dissident movement. At first in Gottwaldov, then, since 1984, in Prague. In most cases, Kateřina had been copying samizdat literature and banned books. She took part in protests in 1989. Her husband, Jaroslav, co-founded Respekt weekly magazine and has been a respected journalist.