František Janouch, a Czech scientist specializing in nuclear physics, has passed away at the age of 92. While living in exile, he established a foundation in Sweden to provide aid to the dissident movement in his native communist country.

The Charter 77 Foundation said Janouch died on Friday morning in Sweden’s capital, Stockholm, where he had lived since the 1970s. No details about the cause of his death were given.

Janouch was born in Lysa nad Labem near Prague on September 22, 1931. He attended Charles University in Prague and also studied nuclear physics at universities in Moscow and St. Petersburg in the former Soviet Union.

He held a high-ranking role at the Nuclear Physics Institute of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences and served as a professor at Charles University, establishing himself as a top authority in his field.

Following the 1968 invasion led by the Soviet Union, which ended a time of progressive changes in Czechoslovakia called the Prague Spring, a strict communist government took control. As a result, Janouch lost his job at the institute and was prohibited from giving lectures.

In 1974, he relocated to Sweden after being invited by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. His Czech citizenship was taken away and he obtained Swedish citizenship in 1979.

In December of 1978, he founded a foundation to provide assistance to individuals in Czechoslovakia who had signed the Charter 77 human rights manifesto, which was co-written by the former dissident Václav Havel.

The individuals who signed the manifesto were subjected to severe persecution by communist authorities.

Janouch’s organization engaged in various operations, including the illegal transportation of prohibited literature to Czechoslovakia. They also provided dissidents with tools to publish works from forbidden writers.

Following the 1989 Velvet Revolution, led by Havel as a stand against communism, the foundation relocated to Prague and has since been actively involved in multiple charitable and other initiatives.

Prime Minister Petr Fiala acknowledged the significant contribution of František Janouch towards restoring freedom to our nation.

Source: wral.com