Mr. Josef Skvorecky

Died on Tuesday, January 3, 2012 at Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto at the age of 87.

Survived by his wife Zdena and extended family in Canada and the Czech Republic.

After the Soviet invasion in 1968, Škvorecký and his wife, writer and actress Zdena Salivarová- Škvorecká, left Czechoslovakia for Canada where he continued writing novels and taught in the Department of English, University of Toronto until his retirement in 1990.

In 1971 Škvorecký and his wife founded the Sixty-Eight Publishers, Corp. which for over twenty years kept publishing banned Czech and Slovak books. For this, the president of post-Communist Czechoslovakia Václav Havel awarded them the Order of the White Lion. In 1992 Škvorecký was appointed to the Order of Canada.

Among his numerous literary awards, the most important are the Neustadt International Prize for Literature (1980), the Canadian Governor General’s Award for Best Fiction (1984), the Czech Republic State Prize for Literature (1999) and the Prize of the Comenius Pangea Foundation “For Improvement of Human Affairs” (2001) which he received with the Polish film director Andrzej Wajda.

In accordance with his wishes, there will be no funeral. A memorial services will be announced at a later date.

A special thank you to Dr. Brian O’Sullivan and the Palliative Care Team of Princess Margaret Hospital.

Condolences – www.rosar-morrison.com