Unable to walk due to his deformation, he endured 8 surgeries by the time he was 14, during each of which bone was scraped from his shins to build him the heels he was born without.

Growing up during WWII brought many challenges as well, from a lack of food and clothes to barely surviving a bombing raid (by Americans who thought they were above Dresden).

As punishment, the family's accounts were emptied and his father was removed from his position as a judge at the highest court of appeals, and relegated to being a notary public in a distant town.

He somehow survived episodes which included scarring himself with acid, dissolving a valuable silver spoon, making explosives, and causing the entire home to smell like rotten eggs for weeks.

Michl began studying chemistry at Charles University in Prague in 1956 and earned a Master's degree in 1961 under Vaclav Horak and Petr Zuman.