Milan Kundera, author of 'The Unbearable Lightness of Being', passes away at 94
Kundera satirised totalitarian regimes and mixed dark irony with philosophical musings to explore the human condition
- Jul 12, 2023,
- Updated Jul 12, 2023 3:32 PM IST
Czech-born writer Milan Kundera, author of the novel "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" has died on Tuesday, the Czech library housing his personal collection said on Wednesday. He was 94.
"Milan Kundera died yesterday in Paris after a long illness," said Anna Mrazova, spokeswoman of the Moravian Library (MZK).
Kundera's French publishing house Gallimard confirmed the Czech-born writer's death on Wednesday, adding that he passed away a day earlier, on July 11th.
Kundera was born in the Czech city of Brno but emigrated to France in 1975 after being ostracised for criticising the 1968 Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia.
He won accolades for his style depicting themes and characters that floated between the mundane reality of everyday life and the lofty world of ideas.
He rarely gave interviews, believing writers should speak through their work.
His first novel "The Joke" was published in 1967 and offered a scathing portrayal of the Czechoslovak Communist regime.
The work was a first step in Kundera's path from party member to exile dissident.
He told French daily Le Monde in 1976 that to call his works political was to oversimplify, and therefore obscure their true significance.
With inputs from Reuters
Czech-born writer Milan Kundera, author of the novel "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" has died on Tuesday, the Czech library housing his personal collection said on Wednesday. He was 94.
"Milan Kundera died yesterday in Paris after a long illness," said Anna Mrazova, spokeswoman of the Moravian Library (MZK).
Kundera's French publishing house Gallimard confirmed the Czech-born writer's death on Wednesday, adding that he passed away a day earlier, on July 11th.
Kundera was born in the Czech city of Brno but emigrated to France in 1975 after being ostracised for criticising the 1968 Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia.
He won accolades for his style depicting themes and characters that floated between the mundane reality of everyday life and the lofty world of ideas.
He rarely gave interviews, believing writers should speak through their work.
His first novel "The Joke" was published in 1967 and offered a scathing portrayal of the Czechoslovak Communist regime.
The work was a first step in Kundera's path from party member to exile dissident.
He told French daily Le Monde in 1976 that to call his works political was to oversimplify, and therefore obscure their true significance.
With inputs from Reuters