The Plastics were my family. After Magor’s wedding, they arrested all of us
Stáhnout obrázek
Pavel Zeman was born on July 16, 1948. His father joined the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia and returned his party card after the invasion of Warsaw Pact troops in 1968. From an early age he loved farming and aspired to study at an agricultural high school, eventually becoming a tractor driver. During the 1960s, he began listening to music from the West and fell in love with bigbeat, which shaped his life‘s journey. In 1969, he joined the band The Plastic People of the Universe, in which he remained until 1973. He subsequently formed the group Bílé světlo (White Light), with whom he performed at the legendary wedding of Ivan „Magor“ Jirous in 1976, for which he was arrested and spent about two weeks in pre-trial detention in Ruzyně. In early 1977 he signed Charter 77 and moved to Brandýs nad Orlicí. Interrogations, persecution and daily harassment by the communist regime followed in response to Charter 77. Pavel Zeman changed a number of jobs, but he loved working in agriculture, to which he kept returning. In the early 1990s, he privatized the assets of a state farm, on which he built the Harmony social project, which helped people struggling with addictions. He was active in the Civic Forum, ran for mayor of Meziměstí and became a member of the local council. In 2024, he lived in Leština near Vysoké Mýto.
