Nobody wanted to suffocate, not even the Communists
Stáhnout obrázek
Vladimír Dundr was born on September 20, 1959 in Litoměřice. He grew up in the family of Vladimír Dundr, a chemist, and Eva, née Vincíková, a teacher. His grandfather Ladislav Vincik was imprisoned by the Nazis in the Small Fortress in Terezín and after the war by the Communists. His father joined the Club of Committed Non-Partisans (KAN) in 1968 and after 1968 he did not take the opportunity to emigrate to the West. Vladimír Dundr graduated from the grammar school in Ústí nad Labem. Since his teenage years he was active in the underground scene in Ústí nad Labem, playing for example in the band Základní Pištora. He belonged to the community around the mill in Povrly - the local centre of the then lively unofficial culture. He participated in the creation and dissemination of samizdat. He graduated from the University of Technology in Prague and in his diploma thesis he dealt with the topic of desulphurisation. Afterwards he worked as a researcher in pharmaceutical production at Chemopharma Ústí n. Labem. He founded a branch of the Czech Union of Nature Conservationists. He organised a protest march to the landfill in Chabařovice, which was eventually banned. In 1989 he signed Several Sentences and a petition for the release of Václav Havel. The State Security Service (StB) followed him, kept him in the category of a person under investigation, interrogated him and planned to charge him with criminal activity. After the Velvet Revolution, he worked in an advertising agency, mastered the work of a graphic designer and later journalism. He devoted himself to music and writing. In 2025 he lived in Ústí nad Labem.