Politicians call Dana Němcová one of the most prominent faces of Czechoslovak dissent. The co-founder of the Committee for the Defense of the Unjustly Prosecuted, one of the first signatories and then spokespersons for Charter 77, died on Tuesday at the age of 89. According to Prime Minister Petar Fiala, Němcová was an extraordinary and deeply human personality who made a significant contribution to freedom and democracy by defending human rights.
“She did not hesitate to confront evil with courage and kindness. Honor to her memory and sincere condolences to the survivors. There are never enough good people like her,” he said on Twitter Prague Mayor Bohuslav Svoboda (ODS). Even according to him, Němcová was an extremely brave, morally strong and exceptional woman.
The Memory of the Nation project on social networks recalled that Němcová and her husband created one of the informal centers of opposition against the communist regime in their apartment in Ječná Street in Prague. One of the spokespeople for Charter 77 and the founder of the Committee for the Defense of the Unjustly Prosecuted, she raised seven children despite constant police persecution.
Mrs. Dana Němcová was an extremely brave, morally strong and exceptional woman. She did not hesitate to confront evil with courage and kindness. Honor to her memory and sincere condolences to the bereaved. There are never enough good people like her.https://t.co/gw4uJlwaFE
— Bohuslav Svoboda, mayor of city of Prague (@Svoboda_Slavek) April 11, 2023
“A brave lady, an unquestionable moral role model. She did not impose her faith on anyone, she lived by her faith,” stated former Minister of Finance and co-founder of TOP 09 Miroslav Kalousek.
The Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Markéta Pekarová Adamová (TOP 09) remembered Němcová as an incredibly gifted and characterful woman. “She was not broken by the imprisonment of the communist dictatorship and fought against totalitarianism because she did not want to live a lie,” she wrote on Twitter.
After the 1989 revolution, Němcová briefly served as a member of the Federal Assembly, and continued to defend human rights and help the weak and helpless. Together with Olga Havelová, she was part of the Goodwill Committee from the beginning, which still helps people with disabilities, abandoned children, the elderly and the sick. In 1992, she founded the Counseling Center for Refugees. Six years later, she received a state award – the Medal of Merit.
