Jaroslav Kořán

Kořán studied drama and film at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague.[1] He then wrote documentary screenwriter and radio plays before transitioning to television journalism.[2] However, in 1973, he and several friends were arrested for singing anti-Russian songs at a restaurant.[1][2] Kořán was sentenced to one year in prison for "slandering the state and hooliganism" due to the song.[1][3] After his release, Kořán worked as an engineer digging trenches in the Prague sewer system.[2]

Despite these setbacks, Kořán translated more than 70 works of American literature into Czech during the 1970s and 1980s.[1][2][3] Some of the major works he translated included books authored by Kurt Vonnegut, Henry Miller, Roald Dahl, and Ken Kesey.[1] Kořán's translation of Kurt Vonnegut's "Slaughterhouse-Five", was uncredited because Kořán was serving his one-year prison term at the time of its publication.[3]

On 10 December 1976 Kořán was present at the first meeting of the Charter 77 signatories.[1] Other members present at the meeting included Václav Havel, Pavel Kohout, Jiří Němec, Zdeněk Mlynář, and Václav Vendelín Komeda.[1][2] Charter 77 was published in January 1977 with the names of 242 signatories, including Kořán.[2]

Years later, Kořán co-founded the Civic Forum in November 1989 during the Velvet Revolution.[1][2] Kořán, who was also a professional photographer, covered the fall of Communism in 1989 for the Reuters news agency.[3]

He also worked as the editor-and-chief of the Czech edition of Playboy during the 1990s.[2][3]

Jaroslav Kořán died on 2 June 2017, at the age of 77.[1][2]