Jan Kavan: The Post-1968 Activities of a Leading Czechoslovak Exile

Jan Kavan (b. 1946) was one of the most active émigrés who fled Czechoslovakia after the 1968 Soviet-led invasion that crushed the Prague Spring. As his mother was British, Kavan settled in London. A devout socialist, he founded the Palach Press Agency and established a smuggling network for circula...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe European legacy, toward new paradigms Vol. 22; no. 7-8; pp. 779 - 788
Main Author Raska, Francis D
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Abingdon Routledge 17.11.2017
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects
Arms control & disarmament
Czechoslovak exile
END
Exile
Government executives
Invasions
Jan Kavan
Kavan, Jan
Palach Press Agency
Personal profiles
Public officials
Smuggling
United Kingdom > UK
Czech Republic
Czechoslovakia
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Summary:Jan Kavan (b. 1946) was one of the most active émigrés who fled Czechoslovakia after the 1968 Soviet-led invasion that crushed the Prague Spring. As his mother was British, Kavan settled in London. A devout socialist, he founded the Palach Press Agency and established a smuggling network for circulating banned literature to and from Czechoslovakia. Kavan was also active in the European Nuclear Disarmament movement. On his return to Czechoslovakia in 1990, Kavan held several important posts, including that of foreign minister of the Czech Republic and president of the General Assembly of the United Nations. Based largely on archival documents, this essay sheds light on some of the more controversial aspects of Kavan's personality, life, and work.
ISSN:1084-8770
1470-1316
DOI:10.1080/10848770.2017.1369685