Marie Magdalena Františka Sokolová was born on 8 September 1919 within the premises of the Zákupy castle, where her father was working as a brewer.

[2] She moved to Switzerland in 1946 to study Economics in Geneva, where she earned her Ph.D.[3] Together with other exiles from Czechoslovakia, she published a magazine called Současnost (transl.

He oversaw the interim administration of Czechoslovakia's central bank in the aftermath of World War II,[5] and in 1945 became one of the first Governors of the International Monetary Fund.

Later, she founded the Jan and Meda Mládek Foundation and decided to reconstruct the historical premises of Sova's Mills and use it as a location for the Museum Kampa.

[2][9] The Jan and Meda Mládek Foundation has in its care a collection of Central European Modern art, and artworks by František Kupka and Otto Gutfreund.

[8] Thirteen years later, she was appointed a commander of the Ordre national du Mérite, in recognition of her efforts as an art collector and philanthropist.