Naive and honest, I wrote a letter to Gustáv Husák
Download image
Aleš Lederer was born on 22 June 1953 in Prague. His father, Jiří Lederer, was a journalist who often came into conflict with the Communist regime. His father’s stance meant that Aleš was repeatedly denied his applications to university. In 1977 he succeeded in enrolling for the study of mathematics and physics at the Faculty of Education because only few students had applied for this combination of subjects. When his father was sentenced to three years of prison for signing and distributing Charter 77, Aleš Lederer wrote a letter to President Gustáv Husák, in which he expressed his disappointment and disillusionment from how the regime destroyed his father. The letter caused him to be expelled from his studies. The heads of the faculty justified the decision by claiming that he had not passed a mathematics exam. Aleš Lederer obtained confirmation from his professor that he had in fact passed the exam, but to no avail. He then tried out various professions. He worked as a care attendant at vocational schools, but he was forced to continuously switch to new employers, as State Security always informed each of the schools’ managements that he was unsuitable for work with youth. He took part in the publication and distribution of samizdat literature, he published the secret magazines Zebra and Revue Prostor (Space Review). This made him the frequent target of State Security interrogations. After the Velvet Revolution of 1989 he served briefly as the spokesman of the Czech Prime Minister Petr Pithart. He headed the daily newspaper Prostor (Space) and the weekly Týden (The Week). He is now the owner of the publishing house Prostor (Space).
