I wanted to assimilate as quickly as possible
Stáhnout obrázek
Vladimír Oravský, Swedish director and writer of Slovak origin, was born in Rožňava on 22 January 1947. His father Dionýz Oravský was imprisoned under unclear circumstances in the early 1950s when his family was living in Bratislava and Vladimír faced a tough childhood at age six. His mother Katarína Oravská could not find a job and was eventually employed illegally by their neighbour, a communist who exploited women struggling under the regime. On completing high school in 1966, Vladimír and friends tried to escape to Yugoslavia via Hungary but were caught and sentenced to two years. He was amnestied in early 1968. Vladimír Oravsky fled again shortly after the occupation of Bratislava by Warsaw Pact troops via Austria, Germany and Denmark, eventually reaching Sweden. In 1969, he began studying literature, drama and film at Lund University where he received his Candidate of Philosophy degree. He graduated from Den Danske Filmskole later and worked as a director and gag master. In the 1980s, he became a dramaturge at the Jönköpings länsteater. His film A Day in the Life was selected for the Karlovy Vary Film Festival in 1982 but the screening was cancelled because the film disappeared. In 1986 he met Vera Chytilová in Prague, who was interested in directing at the Jönköping theatre. He visited Slovakia for the last time in 1990, disappointed by the materialism and the atmosphere of fear. From 1990 onwards, Vladimír Oravský worked at the Swedish Forest Agency Skogsstyrelsen for ten years, after which he became head of the Department of Culture at the City of Umeå. He returned to Jönköping later on and began writing full-time. He has written dozens of books, plays, radio plays and articles. In 2026 he lived in Jönköping and is an honorary citizen of Rožňava.
