Czech emigrants

Jan Amos Komenský

He was bishop later called the Teacher of the Nation. He was the only
creator of the original, philosophical and educational system in the
Czech lands. He was interested in general theory of education,
didactics, he created special methodology of language teaching and he
wrote original textbooks. He was non-Catholic and from 1628 he was
forced to work in exile. In 1642 he went through Amsterdam to
Sweden, where he was invited to lead the reform of the local
education system and wrote textbooks for them. In 1651, he accepted
the invitation of the Prince of Transylvania, Zikmund Rákoczi, to
Šarišský Potok, where he was to organize a reform of education at his
court.

Jiří Voskovec
He was a Czech-American actor, writer, playwright and lyricist. He is
connected with Jan Werich a Jaroslav Ježek. They worked together in
the 1920s and 1930s at the Osvobozené divadlo. In 1926, together
with Jan Werich at the Osvobozené divadlo, they responded to
political and social problems with humor. Because their performances
were anti-fascist, they had to close the theater in 1938 and at the
beginning of 1939 they both emigrated to the USA. After the war
Voskovec lived in the Czech Republic for two years and together with
Werich tried to re-establish the Osvobozené divadlo. In 1948,
Voskovec was forced to emigrate again, this time before the
Communists. Voskovec lived in France for a while to return to the US
in 1950 and he stayed there for the rest of his life.

Miloš Forman
Forman was born to a Jewish father and a Protestant mother. His
parents were arrested by the Gestapo because of their membership in
the resistance group and died in the Auschwitz concentration camp.
In Czechoslovakia, until 1968, he made several successful films. After
the occupation of the country by the Warsaw Pact troops in 1968, he
went to the USA, where he continued with his film work. In 1974,
Forman achieved significant success in the USA with the film Přelet
nad kukaččím hnízdem. He was awarded two Best Director Oscars,
three Golden Globes and a BAFTA Award in the same category. He is
considered one of the most important Czech and American directors
of world films.