Milan Kundera, author of The Unbearable Lightness of Being, dies at 94
Milan Kundera, the Czech-born French writer known for probing memory and exile, died at 94 after a prolonged illness. He was best known for The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1984). Born in Brno, Czechoslovakia in 1929, he studied music before teaching at Prague's film academy in 1952. He joined the Communist party but was expelled twice, the second time in 1970 for supporting free speech during the 1968 Prague Spring, which prompted a Soviet invasion. In 1975, he fled to Paris, living there for the rest of his life with only occasional returns to his homeland. His other major works include The Book of Laughter and Forgetting (1978) and Immortality (1990).
Key facts
- Milan Kundera died at age 94 after a prolonged illness
- He was Czech-born and later became a French citizen
- His most famous novel is The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1984)
- He was born in Brno, Czechoslovakia in 1929
- He studied music and later taught at Prague's film academy in 1952
- He was expelled from the Communist party twice, the second time in 1970
- He fled to Paris in 1975 after the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia
- Other notable works include The Book of Laughter and Forgetting (1978) and Immortality (1990)
Entities
Artists
- Milan Kundera
Institutions
- Communist party
Locations
- Brno
- Czechoslovakia
- Prague
- Paris
- France
- Soviet Union