Pavel Dostál

In 1966, he put aside his technician trade in order to become the artistic director of the Experimental Theatre in Olomouc.

For the next few years, he was active as a theatre producer, and a writer of plays, TV scripts, and magazine columns.

He did not formally end his Communist Party membership until the following year, in protest against the government placement of pro-Soviet Gustáv Husák.

Due to these activities, he was kept under surveillance by the STB secret police, and allowed only to work at labour and technical jobs for 20 years.

He served as Minister of Culture until his death on 24 July 2005, after suffering from pancreatic cancer for nearly a year.