New Delhi: Celebrated Czech-born author Milan Kundera passed away on Tuesday, July 11, after a long period of illness. He was 94.The Moravian Library, which housed Kundera’s personal collection announced his death today, July 12.Kundera was in Paris at the time of his death. He moved to France in 1975 from his home country of Czechoslovakia after facing criticism for writing on the 1968 Soviet invasion of Prague. As an advocate of reform communism, DW has it that he was expelled from the Association of Writers in 1969 and again from the party in 1970; his teaching activities at the Film Academy were suspended, his plays were removed from the repertoire, his publications banned and his books were removed from book stores for sale.By then Kundera’s first novel, The Joke had already been banned in Czechoslovakia.A private person, Kundera is best known for his novel, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, which tackles the 1968 invasion as well. The novel was translated into close to 30 languages and was made into a Hollywood film as well.In 1981, Kundera became a naturalised French citizen. Former Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis restored his Czech citizenship in 2019.Kundera not only wrote novels but was also a playwright, poet and essayist. He was hailed as one of the most important Czech writers of the 20th century.In the report announcing his death the Associated Press noted his steadfast devotion to the printed word, leading him to eschew all technology: “His loyalty to the printed word meant that it was possible for readers to find criticism and biographies of Kundera to download, but not his works themselves.”Kundera’s final novel, ‘The Festival of Insignificance’ was published in 2015.The New York Times has called him a “literary star” in its obit.
