Doc. RNDr., Csc. Jiří Holenda

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iří Holenda was born on the 7th of June in 1933 in Písek. In this town which lay on the demarcation line, he witnessed the end of WWII in May 1945. He had the chance to get to know both the Soviet and the U. S. army. In 1949, he enrolled the Higher Business School (originally called Business Academy) [secondary level education] in Písek. In 1952, he graduated there and enrolled the University of political and economic sciences in Prague but after three months, he left, he was not content with the quality of the education provided. In 1953 – 1959, he studied at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics of the Charles University. In 1958, he got a job assignment to Sušice as a mathematics teacher, then he moved to Kašperské Hory. Then he served in the army. From 1960, he taught at the Education Academy in Sušice. A year later, he married Jitka Řeháčková who was a teacher as well. In 1961, Jiří started to teach at the department of maths at the College of Machinery and Electronics in Plzeň, where he started as an expert assistant and in 1990, he became Associate Professor. In November 1989, he started the Civic Forum at the College of Machinery and Electronics and he gave a speech in support of the students’ strike on the Republic Square in Plzeň. After the University of West Bohemia was established, he became its rector. From 1990, he served in the Plzeň city council for two consecutive terms. He stood at the beginning of the Techmania Science Center, Days of Science and Technology, the International Summer Language School, exchange centre for Czech and German youth in Plzeň and other notable projects. For his lifetime work, he was honoured by various awards. In1998, he was awarded the Seal of the Plzeň City, in 2011, he was declared the Plzeň Icon, and in 2016, he was inducted in the Hall of Fame of the Regional Governor of the Plzeň Region. Jiří Holenda passed away on August, the 28th, 2023.