With great sorrow, I have learned of the death of Professor Radim Palouš, the first Rector of Charles University after the Velvet Revolution. Professor Palouš passed away on September 10, before his 91st birthday.
Last year, on November 6, I met Professor Palouš at the celebration of his 90th birthday. The celebration took place in the same room in the Carolinum where the Academic Senate meets; in 1990, the first free election was conducted here, making Professor Palouš the first Rector of Charles University after the Velvet Revolution.
“The word important to all of us, the word ‘university’, is ad unum verto – turning into one. I have travelled the world with this word, and I have even spoken it in the lands where people were better at it than me, as they wasn’t devastated by the communist regime. I’m happy that I’ve lived long enough to see this day, and that I can ask you now to keep the “in unum vertere” in your minds, and to hold it as the principal slate of one of the most important institutions in our country,” said Rector Palouš in his thank-you speech.
At his 90th birthday, Professor Palouš opened an exhibition on the Faculty of Education, showing his work in the last decade. He used the opportunity to comment on his life full of twists: “I used to be an ordinary guy all my life, and now, at the end, I’m suddenly a lord – in quotes of course.” Then he added in an optimistic tone: “The only way I could bear my own life was beside my wife and our sons. None of them ever complained about the lack of money, or that they could not study. Never ever, which made my life quite easy after all.”
I highly value the work of Professor Radim Palouš and his immense credit in regaining academic freedom not only for Charles University, but for the Czech college education in general. His persona, his human credit, and the moral values he committed himself to, significantly improved the international reputation of Charles University. He opened the university the door to the world – and this is just one of the things we want to thank him for.
His departure is a big loss for the academia of Charles University, and beyond.
May he rest in peace!
Prof. MUDr. Tomáš Zima, DrSc.,
Rector of Charles University
Prague, September 10, 2015
The last farewell to Professor Radim Palouš will take place on September 18, 2015, at 11 AM, in the Church of the Holy Savior (Křižovnické Square, Prague 1). The condolences can be expressed by signing the condolence book between September 15 and 18 in the Carolinum, Ovocný trh 3, Prague 1, every workday from 8 AM till 6 PM.
