Zdena Salivarová

Zdena Salivarová (October 21, 1933 – August 25, 2025) was a Czech-born writer and translator who lived in Toronto, Canada. She founded a publishing house which published Czech works that had been banned in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic.

Early life

Salivarová was born in Prague on October 21, 1933.[1] Her father was a book-seller and publisher who was arrested by the Czech government. He and her brother both were given jail sentences.[2]

She attended the Eliska Krasnohorska Girls' Real Gymnasium in Prague and graduated in 1952. She wished to enter the conservatory as a violinist but was unable to apply because her father and brother had been termed political prisoners.[2]

She studied script-writing at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. During the 1960s, Salivarová worked as a singer and actress.[2] In 1968, she published a collection of short stories Pánská jízda.[3]

Life in exile

Following the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in August 1968, Salivarová emigrated with her husband Josef Škvorecký,[4][5][6] firstly to the United States and then to Canada.[4] They settled in Toronto in 1969.[7]

Salivarová founded a Czech émigré publishing house in Toronto, 68 Publishers,[7][4] which published Czech books that were banned in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic for over 20 years.[8] This included works by Václav Havel, Milan Kundera, and Ludvík Vaculík and others.[9] Salivarová and her husband wrote Samožerbuch (1977) about the history of the publishing house.[3] The publishing house closed in 1993; with the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia a publisher of banned books in Czech was no longer needed. At its closure, 68 Publishers had published 227 books.[2]

She received the Egon Hostovský Award in 1976. With her husband, she was named to the Order of the White Lion in 1990 for their work in promoting Czech literature.[3]

Salivarová died on August 25, 2025, in Toronto, at the age of 91.[10][2]

Selected works

  • Honzlová. Toronto: Nakl. 68. 1972. OCLC 15772487. OL 25200362M. (in Czech)
    • Translation: Summer in Prague. New York: Harper & Row. 1973. OL 18533758M.
  • Nebe, peklo, ráj. Toronto: Sixty-Eight Publishers. 1976. LCCN 77505107. OCLC 234176971. OL 4654582M. (in Czech)

Filmography

References

  1. ^ "Zdena Salivarová". Slovník české literatury po roce 1945 (in Czech).
  2. ^ a b c d e Nossiter, Adam (2025-08-31). "Zdena Salivarova, Publisher Who Kept Czech Literature Alive, Dies at 91". The New York Times. Retrieved 2025-08-31.
  3. ^ a b c "Zdena Salivarová". Prague Writers' Festival.
  4. ^ a b c Sayer, Derek (2022-11-22). Postcards from Absurdistan: Prague at the End of History. Princeton University Press. p. 512. ISBN 978-0-691-18545-3.
  5. ^ Boyagoda, Randy. "The World According to Škvorecký". The Walrus (October/November, 2008).
  6. ^ Goodman, Brian K. (2023-06-20). The Nonconformists: American and Czech Writers across the Iron Curtain. Harvard University Press. p. 216. ISBN 978-0-674-29294-9.
  7. ^ a b "Zdena Salivarová". Czech literature portal. Archived from the original on 2014-08-28. Retrieved 2015-01-26.
  8. ^ Hames, Peter (2010-08-09). Czech and Slovak Cinema. Edinburgh University Press. p. 132. ISBN 978-0-7486-8683-4.
  9. ^ Rechcigl Jr, Miloslav (2013-09-13). Czech American Timeline: Chronology of Milestones in the History of Czechs in America. p. 348. ISBN 978-1-4817-5706-5.
  10. ^ Šťástka, Tomáš (2025-08-25). "Zemřela spisovatelka Zdena Salivarová, manželka Josefa Škvoreckého". iDNES.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 2025-08-31.
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