We tried to give people hope that all is not lost
Download image
Karel Sedláček was born in Prague on 28 May 1941 to Miloslava Sedláčková, née Fousková, and Karel Sedláček Sr. In February 1945 he experienced the bombing of Prague. Completing the High School of Mechanical Engineering in Prague in 1959, he joined Škoda Works in Pilsen as a designer. On 1 November 1960, he fulfilled his dream and got to work at the Czechoslovak Radio in Plzeň as the youngest announcer. He still had to work at Škoda for three years, though. He played in Alfa Theatre in Plzeň and several small theatres. He married Jarmila Böhmová in 1966 and they raised two sons. He studied at the Faculty of Social Sciences and Journalism of Charles University in 1966-1971. In August 1968, he took an active part in the anti-invasion broadcasts of Czechoslovak Radio Plzeň. On 1 January 1969 he left the radio over his disapproval of the normalization. He worked as an editor for science and technology in 1971, then as deputy editor-in-chief of the daily Svobodné slovo. He refused to collaborate with the StB in 1971. On 21 November 1989, he was the first to speak at a protest of the Civic Forum from the balcony of the Hvězda Palace, the headquarters of the Melantrich publishing house. He was employed as deputy programme director of Czechoslovak Television, then editor of a publishing house and later still the editor-in-chief of Melantrich. From 1991 to 2002 he worked as an economic editor and broadcaster for Radio Free Europe. On 1 June 2025 he received the 1 June Prize from the City of Plzeň. At the time of filming in 2025, he was living with his wife in Prague.
