From Australia to Moravia: a journey through family and memory

In this new episode of Czechast, host Vít Pohanka meets Jean Svoboda and her partner Richard in person for the first time. Jean, an Australian with Czech and Latvian roots, is back in Czechia to continue piecing together her family history. Richard, who had never been to Europe before their first trip, joins her again and shares what this journey has meant to him. Together, they reflect on identity, heritage, and the enduring pull of ancestral memory.

“It’s like a giant jigsaw puzzle.” That’s how Richard, an Australian and partner of Jean Svoboda, describes the years-long quest she has undertaken to trace her family roots back to Czechia.

Jean Svoboda visiting moravian village Obytčov|Photo: archive of Jean Svoboda

In this new episode of Czechast, host Vít Pohanka sits down with Jean and Richard in Prague. It’s their second time visiting the country together, and Jean’s journey—part archival detective work, part personal rediscovery—has taken her from digital records to church archives, and from family spreadsheets to actual village homes where her ancestors once lived.

“For me, having been brought up by two European parents, one Czech, one Latvian, they brought some of those traditions with them,” Jean explains. “You know—shoes off at the door, hugging everyone who comes into the house. It wasn’t typical in Australia unless you were among other Europeans.”

Jean Svoboda and her partner Richard in the studio with Vít Pohanka|Photo: Hana Řeháková, Radio Prague International

Richard, who hadn’t left Australia before their first trip, was struck by the sheer depth of history. “To start with, I was like a deer in the headlights. The people, the history—it got me. Back home, history to me is 150 years old.”

Josef Svoboda, portrait on the grave stone of my Jean's grandfather, teacher in Šlapanice|Photo: archive of Jean Svoboda

Now, with more records uncovered, Jean says the picture of her ancestry is growing clearer: “I’ve got some more evidence that those people existed, that I came from them—and that there are people alive today I belong to as well.”

While Richard may not be on his own genealogical journey, his admiration for Jean’s dedication is clear: “It’s wonderful to see what she’s achieved in the last five years. The amount of time and research—she could’ve done another university degree.”

Listen to the full interview in this new episode of Czechast, and join Jean and Richard as they reflect on identity, memory, and what it means to come home—across time and across the globe.