Current:Home > StocksFrantišek Janouch, a Czech nuclear physicist who supported dissidents from Sweden, dies at age 92-LoTradeCoin
František Janouch, a Czech nuclear physicist who supported dissidents from Sweden, dies at age 92
View Date:2024-12-24 07:30:43
PRAGUE (AP) — František Janouch, a Czech nuclear physicist who set up a foundation in Sweden while in exile to support the dissident movement in his communist homeland at the time, has died. He was 92.
The Charter 77 Foundation said Janouch died on Friday morning in Sweden’s capital, Stockholm, where he had lived since the 1970s. No details about the cause of his death were given.
Born on Sept. 22, 1931 in the town of Lysa nad Labem near Prague, Janouch studied nuclear physics at Charles University in Prague and at universities in Moscow and St. Petersburg in the then Soviet Union.
As a leading expert in his field, he worked in a senior position at the Nuclear Physics Institute of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences and was professor at Charles University.
After the 1968 Soviet-led invasion crushed a period of liberal reforms in Czechoslovakia known as the Prague Spring and the country was taken over by a hard-line communist regime, Janouch was fired from the institute and banned from lecturing.
At the invitation of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, he moved to Sweden in 1974. He was stripped of his Czech citizenship and became a Swedish citizen in 1979.
In December 1978, he established the foundation to support those in Czechoslovakia who signed the Charter 77 human rights manifesto co-drafted by then dissident Václav Havel.
The signatories of the manifesto faced harsh persecution from communist authorities.
Among its activities, Janouch’s foundation smuggled banned books to Czechoslovakia, and also equipment that made it possible for dissidents to publish books and other materials by banned authors.
After the 1989 anti-communist Velvet Revolution led by Havel, the foundation moved to Prague and has been involved in various charity and other projects since then.
“František Janouch contributed significantly to the return of freedom to our country,” Prime Minister Petr Fiala said.
veryGood! (142)
Related
- Does the NFL have a special teams bias when hiring head coaches? History indicates it does
- Teacher gifting etiquette: What is (and isn't) appropriate this holiday
- Mexico raids and closes 31 pharmacies in Ensenada that were selling fentanyl-laced pills
- Driver strikes 3 pedestrians at Christmas parade in Bakersfield, California, police say
- Mechanic dies after being 'trapped' under Amazon delivery van at Florida-based center
- Mormon church selects British man from lower-tier council for top governing body
- Russian athletes allowed to compete as neutral athletes at 2024 Paris Olympics
- Sulfuric acid spills on Atlanta highway; 2 taken to hospital after containers overturn
- Eva Longoria Shares She and Her Family Have Moved Out of the United States
- Man dies a day after exchange of gunfire with St. Paul police officer
Ranking
- Michelle Obama Is Diving Back into the Dating World—But It’s Not What You Think
- Indiana secretary of state appeals ruling for US Senate candidate seeking GOP nod
- Use these tech tips to preserve memories (old and new) this holiday season
- Julia Roberts Reveals the Hardest Drug She's Ever Taken
- Saks Fifth Avenue’s holiday light display in Manhattan changing up this season
- Hunter Biden indicted on tax crimes by special counsel
- Robin Myers named interim president for Arkansas State University System
- AI creates, transforms and destroys... jobs
Recommendation
-
Why Amanda Seyfried Traded Living in Hollywood for Life on a Farm in Upstate New York
-
Olivia Rodrigo Reveals How She Got Caught “Stalking” Her Ex on Instagram
-
Julia Roberts Reveals the Hardest Drug She's Ever Taken
-
FDA approves gene-editing treatment for sickle cell disease
-
Pennsylvania House Republicans pick new floor leader after failing to regain majority
-
NOT REAL NEWS: A look at what didn’t happen this week
-
Watch livestream: Ethan Crumbley sentencing for 2021 Oxford school shooting
-
Republican Adam Kinzinger says he's politically homeless, and if Trump is the nominee, he'll vote for Biden — The Takeout