Milan Kundera biography. Kundera, Milan

Milan Kundera is a Czech writer who has lived in France since 1975.

Milan's father was a pianist, musicologist, and rector of the university in Brno. Cousin - writer and translator Ludwik Kundera. While studying at high school Milan wrote the first poems. After World War II, he worked as a laborer and jazz musician.

Milan graduated from school in 1948. He began studying at the Faculty of Philosophy of Charles University (Prague), where he studied musicology, cinema, literature and aesthetics, and after two semesters he transferred to the Film Faculty of the Prague Academy.

In 1950 he interrupted his studies for political reasons, but still graduated in 1952. He worked as an assistant and later as a professor at the Academy in the film department, taught world literature. At the same time, he joined the editorial boards of the literary magazines Literarni noviny and Listy.

He was a member of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia from 1948 to 1950. In 1950 he was expelled for “anti-party activities and individualist tendencies.” From 1956 to 1970 again in the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia.

In 1953 he published his first book. Until the mid-50s he was engaged in translations, essays, and drama. He became famous after the release of a collection of poems and the release of 3 parts of the cycle of short stories “Funny Loves,” written and published from 1958 to 1968.

His first novel, “The Joke” (1967), deals with the situation of the Czech intelligentsia in the conditions of Soviet reality. In the same year, Kundera took part in the IV Congress of the Writers' Union of Czechoslovakia, where calls for the democratization of the country's social and political life were openly voiced for the first time and which began the processes that led to the Prague Spring.

After the entry of Soviet troops into Czechoslovakia in August 1968, Kundera took part in a number of demonstrations and protest meetings, for which he was deprived of the opportunity to teach. His books were removed from all libraries in Czechoslovakia. In 1970, on charges of complicity in revolutionary events, he was expelled from the party again and was prohibited from publishing.

In 1970, Kundera completed his second novel, “Life is Not Here,” which in a grotesque-surreal form tells about the crisis of personality and creative degradation of the poet in the conditions of the formation of socialist Czechoslovakia. Main character In the novel, the young poet Jaromil evolves from surrealism in the spirit of Andre Breton to socialist realism. The novel was published in 1973 in Paris.

The writer’s third novel, “Farewell Waltz” (1971), is an elegant narrative about the stay of several characters in a resort town. This is Kundera's first novel to deal primarily with sexual themes.

In 1975, Kundera was invited to work as a professor at the University of Rennes (Brittany region, France).

Kundera's fourth novel, The Book of Laughter and Oblivion (1978), is essentially a cycle of several stories and essays united by common characters (Tamina, Kundera himself), themes and images (laughter, angels, Prague). For this book in 1979, the Czechoslovak government deprived the writer of citizenship.

Since 1981, Kundera has been a French citizen. The novel “Immortality” (1990) is the last one he wrote in Czech.

Since the early 1990s, Kundera has been writing in French. Three French novels - “Slowness” (1993), “Authenticity” (1998), “Ignorance” (2000) - are more miniature and intimate than his Czech novels.

In October 2008, Adam Hradilek, an employee of the Czech Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes, published an article in the weekly Respekt that Kundera in 1950 informed the police about Miroslav Dvořáček, who first fled to Germany and then secretly returned to Czechoslovakia as an American intelligence agent. Dvořáček was sentenced to 22 years in prison, of which he served 14. After publication, Kundera said: “I am simply shocked by this whole story, which I know nothing about and which never happened. The person in question is completely unknown to me. It's a lie". Allegations that the writer was an informer sparked heated debate in the Czech Republic.

He began his career with poetry, then found his calling in prose.

Carier start

Kundera was born in the Czech city of Brno. His father was the rector of the university and a good specialist in music. The future writer graduated from school in 1948. While studying, he composed poetry and tried the pen. But, oddly enough, after graduating, he entered the Faculty of Philosophy, where he was actively involved in musicology. After studying for one year, he transferred to the film department, where Kundera subsequently worked. Milan has always had a difficult and complicated relationship with politics. While a faculty member at the department and a member of the editorial boards of two literary magazines, he was expelled from the Communist Party for his individualistic views and anti-Party activities. However, he was soon rehabilitated.

The first published work appeared in 1953. Fame comes to him after the release of a collection of poems. At this time, Milan Kundera, whose books are gradually gaining popularity, was very involved in drama and essay writing. The collection of stories "Funny Loves" brought real success.

The writer's first novel

The author's political views were reflected in his first novel, "The Joke." Milan Kundera talks about Stalinism in it, harshly criticizing this phenomenon. For 1967, the book was quite topical. The novel was translated into many languages ​​and immediately became popular. With incredible clarity, Kundera Milan shows the story of human torment mixed with an indictment of the political system. The theme of jokes and games is organically woven into the outline of the novel. Ludovic Yan, the hero of the novel, jokes unsuccessfully, his joke changes life. Kundera takes his story to the point of absurdity. The book looks rather gloomy and gray, but it is very vital.

Kundera, Milan: "The unbearable lightness of being"

Kundera's novel is incredibly deep in content. Perhaps it is the author's most popular and highly rated book. In it he tries to philosophically comprehend human freedom, his happiness. The writer again attempts to depict a turning point in history through destinies and traditional relationships ordinary people. Some readers perceive this work negatively: there is too little action in it. The novel is filled with the author's fabrications, his reasoning and lyrical digressions. However, this is where the charm of this work lies. There are two in the novel storylines. The first is connected with the fate of Teresa and Tomas, and the second - Sabina and Franz. They live, as it seems at first glance, the most ordinary lives. They love, break up, engage in professional activities. However, in 1968, political events occur that change everything. Now only those who love can live as before and feel comfortable. Soviet power. As you know, in 1968, Soviet tanks drove through Czech cities. Mass protests began, in which Kundera himself participated. Milan was deprived of the right to teach for this. The feeling of lack of freedom and pressure permeates the writer’s novel. The novel has been translated into many languages ​​and filmed.

Characteristics of some novels

One of the most wonderful novels Milan Kundera wrote is “The Farewell Waltz.” There are seven main characters in it. These are ordinary women and men; it is unclear how their destinies will turn out. The author, through some unthinkable mathematical calculations, confuses and mixes up the characters, gradually bringing them together. The novel is full of passion, intrigue, and feelings. It can be defined as a psychological novel with a mixture of crime (detective) genre and drama.

A masterpiece of intellectual prose, the novel created by Milan Kundera is Immortality (1990). This book is structured as a chain of associations that arose after a single gesture by the heroine. By the way, this is the last novel written by Kundera in Czech. He wrote such novels in French as “Slowness” and “Authenticity”. The novel "Slowness" represents several combined plots, in which it is difficult to find one theme (since there are many themes there). The novel is about how people strive to achieve something, without realizing that they are passionate only about the process of achieving the goal, but not about the goal itself. There are motives of thirst for recognition and appreciation. The novel "Authenticity" opens up to the reader endless labyrinths of reflections and inventions, when it is difficult to understand what is actually imaginary and what is genuine. This work actualizes the themes of friendship, memory, memories.

The further life of the writer

As noted above, after the occupation of Czechoslovakia Soviet troops Kundera was stripped of his position at the university. He continued to work on his novels, but none of his works were published. Constant surveillance and harassment force him to leave the country. Even after so many years, the writer experiences some distrust of the Russians (as Kundera himself says). Milan goes to France. He has lived there since 1975. In 1981 he became a full citizen of this country. For a long time he writes his novels in his native language, and essays and articles in French. In one of his interviews, Kundera noted that, unlike other writers - forced emigrants - he does not feel separated from his native soil, so he can create in full force.

Kundera Milan on literature

Like any writer, Milan Kundera is an ardent fan of literature. According to the writer, the works of such great masters of words as and In the works of these authors, Kundera is attracted by play, irony, “freedom turned into a novel,” had a huge influence on him. Of course, Kundera does not ignore his compatriot - he rightfully calls him a symbol of the era. Disbelief in progress, some disappointment, the illusory nature of improvements in society, irony - this is what Kundera admires in Kafka's novels.

In Russian literature, the writer especially highlights the work of L.N. Tolstoy. In his opinion, Lev Nikolaevich managed better than other authors to grasp modernity and feel the peculiarities of the time. Tolstoy's special merit is in creating an internal monologue. Milan Kundera believes that it was Tolstoy who became the forerunner of the “stream of consciousness” literature, further developed in the work of Joyce and other modernist and postmodernist writers.

Famous sayings of the author

The author’s deeply philosophical, intellectual novels can literally be “cut up” into quotes. However, there are also statements by the author that were not included in his works.

“I hate participating in political life, although politics delights me as a show, a spectacle.” This quote was made by the author regarding the elections in France and regarding his departure from his native country. Of course, for Kundera, politics is a tragic spectacle.

“Life when you cannot hide from the eyes of others is hell.” This quote contains everything: both his attitude towards the totalitarian state and his attitude towards his own glory. Milan once said that he would like to become invisible. The writer never stuck out or advertised his personal life.

"The true humanism of a society is manifested in its attitude towards the elderly." According to the writer, one should not judge society only by its attitude towards children. After all, the true future of a person is old age.

Awards:

Biography

Milan's father was a pianist, musicologist, and rector of the university in Brno. Cousin - writer and translator Ludwik Kundera. While studying in high school, Milan wrote his first poems. After World War II, he worked as a laborer and jazz musician.

His first novel, “The Joke” (), deals with the situation of the Czech intelligentsia in the conditions of Soviet reality. In the same year, Kundera took part in the IV Congress of the Writers' Union of Czechoslovakia, where calls for the democratization of the country's social and political life were openly voiced for the first time and which began the processes that led to the “Prague Spring”.

Honorary citizen of Brno (2009).

Bibliography

Poetry

• "Man is an immense garden"(Czech: Člověk, zahrada širá, )
• "Last May"(Czech: Poslední máj, - -)
• "Monologues"(Czech Monology, - -)

Plays

• "Key Owner"(Czech: Majitele klíčů,)
• "Miss"(Czech: Ptákovina, )
• "Two gossips, two weddings"(Czech: Dvě uši, dvě svatby, )
• "Jacques and His Master"(Czech. Jakub a jeho pán: Pocta Denisu Diderotovi, )

Novels

• "Funny Loves"(Czech. Směšné lásky, )

Novels

• "Joke"(Czech. Zert, )
• "Life is not here"(Czech. Život je jinde, - )
• "Farewell Waltz"(Czech. Valčík na rozloučenou, - )
• "The Book of Laughter and Oblivion"(Czech: Kniha smíchu a zapomnění,)
• "The Unbearable Lightness of Being"(Czech. Nesnesitelná lehkost bytí, )
• "Immortality"(Czech. Nesmrtelnost, )
• "Slowness"(fr. La Lenteur; Czech Pomalost, )
• "Authenticity"(fr. L'Identity; Czech Totožnost , )
• "Ignorance"(fr. L'Ignorance; Czech Nevědomost , )
• "Celebration of Insignificance"(fr. La Fête de l'insignifiance, 2013)

Essay

• On hereditary disputes (1955)
• The Art of the Novel (1960)
• Czech Agreement (1968)
• Radicalism and Exhibitionism (1969)
• (1983)
• The Art of the Novel (L’art du Roman) (1985)
• Broken Wills (Les testaments trahis) (1992)
• (2005)
• Meeting (Une rencontre) (2009)

Productions

• In 1963, based on his play, the play “Turn of the Key” was staged at the Riga Youth Theater.

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Links

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• respekt.ihned.cz/c1-36370990-udani-milana-kundery

Notes

Novels Novels Essay Plays Poetry

1963-1991 1993-2021

Excerpt characterizing Kundera, Milan

“How easy, how little effort is needed to do so much good, thought Pierre, and how little we care about it!”
He was happy with the gratitude shown to him, but was ashamed to accept it. This gratitude reminded him how much more he could have done for these simple, kind people.
The chief manager, a very stupid and cunning man, completely understanding the smart and naive count, and playing with him like a toy, seeing the effect produced on Pierre by the prepared techniques, more decisively turned to him with arguments about the impossibility and, most importantly, the unnecessaryness of the liberation of the peasants, who, even without They were completely happy.
Pierre secretly agreed with the manager that it was difficult to imagine happier people, and that God knows what awaited them in the wild; but Pierre, although reluctantly, insisted on what he considered fair. The manager promised to use all his strength to carry out the will of the count, clearly understanding that the count would never be able to trust him not only as to whether all measures had been taken to sell forests and estates, to redeem from the Council, but would also probably never ask or learns how the built buildings stand empty and the peasants continue to give with work and money everything that they give from others, that is, everything that they can give.

In the happiest state of mind, returning from his southern trip, Pierre fulfilled his long-standing intention to call on his friend Bolkonsky, whom he had not seen for two years.
Bogucharovo lay in an ugly, flat area, covered with fields and felled and uncut fir and birch forests. The manor's yard was located at the end of a straight line, along the main road of the village, behind a newly dug, full-filled pond, with the banks not yet overgrown with grass, in the middle of a young forest, between which stood several large pines.
The manor's courtyard consisted of a threshing floor, outbuildings, stables, a bathhouse, an outbuilding and a large stone house with a semicircular pediment, which was still under construction. A young garden was planted around the house. The fences and gates were strong and new; under the canopy stood two fire pipes and a barrel painted green; the roads were straight, the bridges were strong with railings. Everything bore the imprint of neatness and thrift. The servants who met, when asked where the prince lived, pointed to a small, new outbuilding standing at the very edge of the pond. Prince Andrei's old uncle, Anton, dropped Pierre out of the carriage, said that the prince was at home, and led him into a clean, small hallway.
Pierre was struck by the modesty of the small, albeit clean, house after the brilliant conditions in which he last saw his friend in St. Petersburg. He hurriedly entered the still pine-smelling, unplastered, small hall and wanted to move on, but Anton tiptoed forward and knocked on the door.
- Well, what's there? – a sharp, unpleasant voice was heard.
“Guest,” answered Anton.
“Ask me to wait,” and I heard a chair being pushed back. Pierre walked quickly to the door and came face to face with Prince Andrei, who was coming out to him, frowning and aged. Pierre hugged him and, raising his glasses, kissed him on the cheeks and looked at him closely.
“I didn’t expect it, I’m very glad,” said Prince Andrei. Pierre said nothing; He looked at his friend in surprise, without taking his eyes off. He was struck by the change that had taken place in Prince Andrei. The words were affectionate, a smile was on Prince Andrei’s lips and face, but his gaze was dull, dead, to which, despite his apparent desire, Prince Andrei could not give a joyful and cheerful shine. It’s not that his friend has lost weight, turned pale, and matured; but this look and the wrinkle on his forehead, expressing long concentration on one thing, amazed and alienated Pierre until he got used to them.
When meeting after a long separation, as always happens, the conversation could not stop for a long time; they asked and answered briefly about things that they themselves knew should have been discussed at length. Finally, the conversation gradually began to dwell on what had previously been said fragmentarily, on questions about his past life, about plans for the future, about Pierre’s travels, about his activities, about the war, etc. That concentration and depression that Pierre noticed in the look of Prince Andrei now was expressed even more strongly in the smile with which he listened to Pierre, especially when Pierre spoke with animated joy about the past or the future. It was as if Prince Andrei would have wanted, but could not, take part in what he was saying. Pierre began to feel that enthusiasm, dreams, hopes for happiness and goodness in front of Prince Andrei were not proper. He was ashamed to express all his new, Masonic thoughts, especially those renewed and excited in him by his last journey. He restrained himself, was afraid to be naive; at the same time, he irresistibly wanted to quickly show his friend that he was now a completely different, better Pierre than the one who was in St. Petersburg.
“I can’t tell you how much I experienced during this time.” I wouldn't recognize myself.
“Yes, we have changed a lot, a lot since then,” said Prince Andrei.
- Well, what about you? - asked Pierre, - what are your plans?
- Plans? – Prince Andrey repeated ironically. - My plans? - he repeated, as if surprised at the meaning of such a word. - Yes, you see, I’m building, I want to move completely by next year...
Pierre silently peered intently into the aged face of (Prince) Andrei.
“No, I’m asking,” said Pierre, “but Prince Andrei interrupted him:
- What can I say about me... Tell me, tell me about your journey, about everything you did there on your estates?
Pierre began to talk about what he had done on his estates, trying as much as possible to hide his participation in the improvements made by him. Prince Andrei several times prompted Pierre ahead of what he was telling, as if everything that Pierre had done had happened a long time ago famous story, and listened not only not with interest, but even as if ashamed of what Pierre was telling.
Pierre felt awkward and even difficult in the company of his friend. He fell silent.
“But here’s what, my soul,” said Prince Andrei, who was obviously also having a hard time and shyness with his guest, “I’m here in bivouacs, and I came just to have a look.” I'm going back to my sister now. I'll introduce you to them. “Yes, you seem to know each other,” he said, obviously entertaining the guest with whom he now felt nothing in common. - We'll go after lunch. Now do you want to see my estate? “They went out and walked around until lunch, talking about political news and mutual acquaintances, like people who are not very close to each other. With some animation and interest, Prince Andrei spoke only about the new estate and building he was organizing, but even here, in the middle of the conversation, on the stage, when Prince Andrei was describing to Pierre the future location of the house, he suddenly stopped. “However, there’s nothing interesting here, let’s go have lunch and leave.” “At dinner the conversation turned to Pierre’s marriage.
“I was very surprised when I heard about this,” said Prince Andrei.
Pierre blushed the same way he always blushed at this, and hastily said:
“I’ll tell you someday how it all happened.” But you know that it's all over and forever.
- Forever? - said Prince Andrei. – Nothing happens forever.
– But do you know how it all ended? Have you heard about the duel?
- Yes, you went through that too.
“The one thing I thank God for is that I didn’t kill this man,” said Pierre.
- From what? - said Prince Andrei. – It’s even very good to kill an angry dog.
- No, killing a person is not good, it’s unfair...
- Why is it unfair? - repeated Prince Andrei; what is just and unjust is not given to people to judge. People have always been mistaken and will continue to be mistaken, and in nothing more than in what they consider just and unjust.
“It is unfair that there is evil for another person,” said Pierre, feeling with pleasure that for the first time since his arrival, Prince Andrei became animated and began to speak and wanted to express everything that made him what he was now.
– Who told you what evil is for another person? - he asked.
- Evil? Evil? - said Pierre, - we all know what evil is for ourselves.
“Yes, we know, but the evil that I know for myself, I cannot do to another person,” Prince Andrei said more and more animatedly, apparently wanting to express to Pierre his new view of things. He spoke French. Je ne connais l dans la vie que deux maux bien reels: c"est le remord et la maladie. II n"est de bien que l"absence de ces maux. [I know in life only two real misfortunes: remorse and illness. And the only good is the absence of these evils.] To live for yourself, avoiding only these two evils: that is all my wisdom now.

Date of Birth: 01.04.1929

Milan Kundera is one of the most famous European postmodernist writers at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries. Being a prose writer, he also showed himself as a poet and playwright. Known for his novels The Unbearable Lightness of Being and Immortality.

Milan Kundera was born on one of the most frivolous days of the year - April 1, 1929, in a family where the father was a famous musicologist. Music studies were not in vain for Milan; musical notes can be traced in almost all of his works. In 1948, Kundera entered the Faculty of Philosophy at Charles University, majoring in literary studies, but two years later he transferred to the Faculty of Film and Television at the Prague Academy of Fine Arts. Since 1952, he has remained at the academy to teach world literature there. During all this time, Kundera showed himself not only as a poet, but also as an essayist and playwright.

In 1948, full of enthusiasm and patriotism, he joined the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, from where he was expelled two years later for “anti-party activities.” However, this does not prevent him from rejoining the party in 1956 and leaving it again in 1970.

In 1967 he wrote his first novel. "Joke" about “painful issues”, about changes in Soviet-type Czech society. The author rewrote the novel as a script and made a film out of it himself.

After the infamous events of the Prague Spring, Kundera was deprived of the right to teach and publish. The writer is thinking about emigrating to France. In 1970, the author finished his second novel "Life is not here", where he tells us about the life of a poet broken by communist ideology. The novel was published in France in 1973.

In 1971, Kundera writes "Farewell Waltz", where for the first time he leaves behind political unrest, focusing all attention on love themes. Despite this, in all of Kundera's works one can discern an intimate side, as a faithful companion to his postmodern style.

After emigrating and publishing his novel "The Book of Laughter and Oblivion" Kundera is stripped of his Czech citizenship. However, a few years later he was given the honor of becoming a French subject. In 1990, the author wrote his last novel in Czech. "Immortality", where the author asks some of the main questions of existence. The pronounced reflexivity of the novel somewhat moved its genre affiliation closer to the essay.

6 years earlier, Kundera wrote his most famous novel "The Unbearable Lightness of Being", later filmed by American director Philip Kaufman and starring Juliette Binoche and Daniel Dale-Lewis.

The writer's unique style brought him international fame. Through the prism of laughter, the author exposes the tragic underside of life; extending the realm of the funny to “serious matters”, the author discusses questions of existence...Kundera made a huge contribution to the socio-political and cultural development of society, reflecting historical changes in Czechoslovakia, the unrest of the Czech intelligentsia in the context of his time, and therefore Lately he is one of the main contenders to receive Nobel Prize in literature along with such famous writers as Umberto Eco, Amos Oz, Mario Vargas Llosa, Salman Rushdie and others. Today, Kundera has received several awards and honors, and is also a national hero in his home country.

Lives with his wife in Paris.

Interview with Milan Kundera 1984 You can view .

I haven't written a single novel since 2000.

Over the past 27 years, he has not given a single interview.

Does not allow the publication of his novels written in French in the Czech Republic until he personally transfers them. Czechs bring his novels from abroad. Kundera himself is the only emigrant writer who never officially returned to his homeland after the regime change.

In 2008, Kundera was accused of being a police informer during the communist regime in Czechoslavakia, thanks to which his dissident friend Dvořáček spent 14 years in prison. Writers from all over the world, including Nobel laureates Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk and South African writers Nadine Gordimer and John Coetzee, as well as Salman Rushdie, American Philip Roth and Spanish film playwright Jorge Semprun, spoke out in defense of the Czech writer. This is not the first time that a writer has been accused of being a “snitch,” including the British novelist George Orwell, the German Gunther Wallraf, the Lithuanian Mykolas Karciauskas and others.

Writer's Awards

1964 States prize of the CSSR ( State Prize of the Czech Republic)
1968 Prize of the authors confederation of the CSSR
1973 for the best foreign novel published in France (“Life is Elsewhere”)
1978 Premio letterario Mondello for his book “The Farewell Party” in Italy
1981 American Common Wealth Award for his complete works
1982 European literature prize
1983 Doctor honoris causa of the University of Michigan, USA
1985 (Jerusalem Prize)
1987 Crititians prize of the Academie Francaise for his book “The Art of the Novel”
1987 Nelly-Sachs-Preis
1987 Austrian states prize for European literature
1990 Knight of the Legion Etrangere (France)
1991 First prize for foreign literature of the English newspaper The Independent
1994 Jaroslav-Seifert-Prize for his novel “Immortality”
1995 Czech medal of merit for his contribution to the renewal of democracy
2000 Herder-Preis of the University of Vienna / Austria

Bibliography

Poetry:
Man is a Vast Garden (1953)
Last May (1954-1955-1961)
Monologues (1957-1964-1965)

Plays:
Holder of the Keys (1962)
Two Gossips, Two Weddings (1968)
Slip (1969)
Jacques and his Master (1971)
Novels

Writer Milan Kundera was born on April 1, 1929 in the city of Brno in Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic). He is a novelist, short story writer, playwright, essayist and poet whose works combine erotic comedy with political criticism and philosophical reflection.

The writer's father is pianist and musicologist, Ludwik Kundera (1891-1971). He also served as rector of the university in Brno. As a young man, Milan Kundera studied music, but gradually began to show interest in writing lyrics. Milan wrote his first poems in high school. After World War II, the future writer worked as a merchant and jazz musician, even before starting his studies at Prague's Charles University, where he studied musicology, film, literature and aesthetics. Further, in 1952, he began teaching literature at the Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in Prague. Kundera became first an assistant and then a professor at the film department in this educational institution. He lectured on world literature. During this time, he published poetry, essays, and plays, and established himself on the editorial boards of several literary magazines. The future writer published several collections of poems, including “The Last May” (1955), “Monologues” (1957). A large number of love poems, due to their ironic tone and touch of eroticism, were later condemned by the Czech political authorities.

Early in his career, he joined the Communist Party several times. Kundera first did this in 1948, being full of enthusiasm, like many intellectuals of that time. He was later expelled from the party in 1950 and readmitted in 1956. The writer remained a party member until 1970. In the 50s, Kundera worked as a translator, publicist and playwright. In 1953 he published his first book. He wrote several volumes short stories and a highly successful one-act play (The Holder of the Keys, 1962). This was followed by his first novel and one of his greatest works (The Joke, 1967). Kundera's works are permeated with comedy, an ironic look at the private life and fate of the Czechs during the years of Stalinism. His texts have been translated into several languages, and the author himself has achieved great international recognition.

His second novel, Life Isn't Here (1969), tells the story of a romantically minded hero who is completely overwhelmed by the communist takeover of 1948. The book was banned in the Czech Republic. Kundera took part in the liberalization of Czechoslovakia in 1967-68 (Prague Spring). After the Soviet occupation of the country, he refused to admit his political mistakes and was consequently attacked by the authorities, who banned all of his writings and forced him out of the Communist Party.

In 1975, Kundera was allowed to emigrate with his wife Vera Hrabankova from Czechoslovakia to teach at the University of Rennes (1975-78) in France. In 1979, the Czechoslovak government revoked his citizenship. In the 1970s and '80s, the bulk of his novels, including The Farewell Waltz (1976), The Book of Laughter and Forgetting (1979), and The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1984) were published in France and other countries. Until 1989, these works were banned in his homeland. The Book of Laughter and Oblivion, one of his most successful works, is a series of ironic, witty stories that poke fun at the trend modern state deny and erase human memory and historical truth. The novel Immortality (1990) explores nature artistic creativity. Kundera begins to write in French, after which the novels appear: “Slowness” (1994), “Authenticity” (1997). Kundera also writes the work “Ignorance” (2000). This is a story about Czech emigrants, written in French. It was first published on Spanish. It becomes obvious that Kundera receives inspiration from the works of such Renaissance writers as: Boccaccio, Rabelais, Stern, Diderot.