Pavel Janák became an honorary citizen of Prague 6

Prague - Prague 6 has new honorary citizens. The award was granted today by the Dejvice town hall posthumously to Lieutenant General Karel Paleček and poet Jaroslav Seifert, who is the only Czech laureate of the Nobel Prize for Literature. The new honorary citizens of Prague 6 also include painter and graphic artist Jiří Anderle and actor, lyricist, poet, visual artist, and head of the Semafor Theater Jiří Suchý. The local council awarded the prize posthumously to the significant interwar architect Pavel Janák, who contributed to the construction of a model colony of houses in the gardens in Prague on Baba.
Karel Paleček (1896 - 1962) fought as a young man in the Czechoslovak legions in Russia and spent World War II in Britain, where he was responsible for parachute drops among other duties. In 1948, he became the first commander of the parachute army in Czechoslovakia, but the following year he was sentenced to nine years in prison. After 1989, he was rehabilitated and in 1991 was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general posthumously.
Jaroslav Seifert (1901 - 1986) created a distinctive form of Czech proletarian poetry and poetism. Through melodic verses evoking memories of youth and home, he arrived at reflective lyricism with free verse in the 1970s. After 1948, he was not allowed to publish for many years. He received the Nobel Prize in 1984. Until his death, he lived in Prague 6 in Břevnov.
Jiří Anderle, who will celebrate his seventieth birthday in mid-September, influenced the emergence of a significant generation of visual artists in the mid-60s with his work. He has had about a hundred exhibitions, received around forty awards, and is represented in the Metropolitan Museum of New York and the Pompidou Centre in Paris. He is also a collector. In 2003, after extensive reconstruction, a gallery was opened in the Pellé Villa in Prague 6 featuring his unique collection of African sculptures and a retrospective of the artist's work.
Jiří Suchý is often regarded as one of the most prominent figures in the cultural scene of recent decades. In 1959, he opened the Semafor Theater with Jiří Šlitr. Over ten years, they created 21 productions, developing the ideas of the Liberated Theatre and world musical production into a distinctive form of authorial small-scale theater. From 1956 to 1991, he contributed to the creation of about a thousand songs and is the author of more than 300 lyrics for Šlitr's songs.
Pavel Janák (1882 - 1956) was a significant architect and theorist of Czech modern architecture. He worked in the studio of Jan Kotěra, collaborated with Josef Gočár, and was among the proponents of functionalism. In Prague, he is the author of Hlávkův Bridge, the Hus Congregation in Vinohrady, and the Juliš Hotel in Wenceslas Square. He was the architect of Prague Castle and participated in the restoration of the Riding Hall, Belvedere, and the Míčovna. He designed numerous modifications to the Černín Palace, the Old Town Hall, and the Summer Palace Hvězda.
The Dejvice town hall has been granting honorary citizenship since 2002. Among the previously honored individuals are General František Fajtl, Major General Antonín Špaček, writer Jiří Stránský, footballer Josef Masopust, the founder of the Home of the Holy Family for disabled children Ludmila Loskotová, religious name Marie Akvinela, and the world-renowned discoverer of effective medicinal substances Antonín Holý.