Barbara Day and Nancy Durham: women who defied a dictatorship with ideas
The latest Czechast tells the story of two remarkable women — Barbara Day and Nancy Durham — who risked much to help Czech intellectual life survive under communism. Through the Jan Hus Educational Foundation, they built bridges between British academics and dissident scholars in Czechoslovakia. Their courage and empathy show how even small acts of solidarity can shape freedom and education.
Two women, one mission
In the 1980s, when Czechoslovakia was still under communist rule, education and philosophy often took place in secret. Official universities were heavily controlled by the state, and independent thinkers were silenced. The Jan Hus Educational Foundation, based in Britain, quietly helped to break that isolation. It connected Czech, Moravian, and Slovak intellectuals with Western academics who were willing to share books, lecture notes, and personal encouragement.
Among those who played a crucial role was Barbara Day, a British writer and theatre historian. Travelling regularly to Czechoslovakia, she met people in secret, often under the watchful eyes of the secret police.
“I would visit someone in one office and then slip out the back while my real contact did the same,” she recalls in Czechast. “We’d meet in the corridor, exchange materials, and no one would know.”
A Canadian journalist in the underground network
Another woman who spread free information both in Czechoslovakia and about Czechia in international press was Nancy Durham, a Canadian journalist who reported from Czechoslovakia during those turbulent years. She not only documented what was happening but also actively supported the Jan Hus Foundation’s work. In the new Czechast episode, she explains why that legacy still matters today:
“Human rights and freedom are a struggle around the world,” she says. “It tells you that if you do something small, it can really make a difference.” Their combined efforts helped to keep the spirit of free inquiry alive at a time when open debate could lead to imprisonment or worse.
Sparks of Freedom and the power of ideas
The story of Barbara Day, Nancy Durham, and their Czech friends is now part of an exhibition titled Sparks of Freedom at Brno’s Moravian Museum. It honors those who refused to let ideas die behind the Iron Curtain.
For Barbara Day, her involvement was not just professional — it was personal: “To be able to do something concrete for people like this was a privilege,” she says. “We had been lucky in our education in Britain, and I wanted to give something back.”
This episode of Czechast reminds listeners that courage is not always loud or visible. Sometimes, it lives in quiet acts — a manuscript hidden in a book, a meeting in a corridor, or a shared belief that education and freedom belong to everyone.
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Czechast, Radio Prague International
Czechast is a regular RPI podcast about Czech and Moravian culture, history, and economy.
