Czech diplomacy Down Under: Jana Tyrer on her career and role as Czechia’s ambassador to Australia
Sent out from the heart of Europe, Czechia’s diplomats represent the country all over the world, including on the far side of the globe. As part of our new series on Czech Women Pioneers, we take a look at Czechia’s female ambassadors, who may still be breaking new ground today in their respective missions to different countries. The first women only began to be appointed to the high office after the fall of communism, such as the first female ambassador to the United States, Rita Klímová, who took up the role in 1990.
Now following in her footsteps is Her Excellency Jana Tyrer, who currently serves as the Czech ambassador to Australia. Born and educated in Moravia, many career steps have led the ambassador from Přerov to Canberra, where she now leads Czech diplomatic relations not only with Australia, but also with New Zealand and several Pacific Islands Countries. She took us through the tasks of her daily work, and also discussed some of the challenges that women may face in the world of diplomacy.
You currently hold the position of the Czech Republic's ambassador to Australia, and I think first and foremost people would be interested to know, how did you get there? What were the necessary steps from your early life in Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic to where you are now?
“On a more personal note, I had parents who made me keen to learn more about the world. I read the books by Zikmund and Hanzelka as a child. I wanted to always know more about the world. My parents supported me in stressing the importance of languages. In early childhood, I started with my first foreign language at the age of eight, my second at the age of ten, and my third at the age of twelve.
“Although I was born in Czechoslovakia, and I'm one of those children of Gustáv Husák’s period, my parents strongly believed that times will change, and that we will have free borders and I will be allowed to travel and fulfil my dream of exploring the world. Later, this was joined with a wish of to be of service, to do something for my country.
“Although I was born in Czechoslovakia … my parents strongly believed that times will change.”
“Though I made a small detour through five years of teaching at a grammar school, when I saw in a newspaper an advertisement that was advertising the possibility of joining the Foreign Service at the Diplomatic Academy, I decided to apply and to try to get through the competition. That's how it all started. I was lucky enough to get into the Diplomatic Academy in 2001. Since then, I've been working for the Czech Foreign Service, from the lowest ranks up to the position of a director of the Department of the European Union, being in charge of cooperation with Brussels and the relevant ministries on the Czech side, and a junior Deputy Minister for European affairs at the ministry.
“After the successful Czech presidency of the EU, it was time for me to move on, and I applied for my current position. It was one of the positions that I applied for, I have to say. The ministry and the minister decided to support my candidacy.”
Had you been to Australia before? Did you know the country?
“No, I had not been to Australia. But I loved exploring, I loved reading about Australia, and I studied English philology at the Palacký University in Olomouc. A part of our studies, of course, was other English-speaking countries, countries of the Commonwealth, and funnily enough, one of our courses at the university at that time was Australian literature and film. There was always a slight link of mine to Australia.
“When I realised that the position was vacant, I thought I would love to actually step out of European waters, and go somewhere where I can actually be of service promoting Europe and the Czech Republic, raising awareness of who we are, where we are, what we are good at, and simply being of service there.”
And today, in your current position as ambassador, what is a typical day at the office for you, if there is such a thing as a typical day?
“That's exactly what I actually wanted to start with: that there is no typical day. That's what I probably love the most about the job. There are lots of different tasks that are linked to the administrative part of my job – replying to emails, signing lots of documents, reading lots of documents, answering lots of questions, shifting lots of papers, or rather electronic versions. But every day is slightly different.
“There is no typical day. That's what I probably love the most about the job.”
“On one day, we might be organising an event here at the embassy, helping to support some Czech artists. For example, last year we had the Australian tour of Trio Bohémo, the Czech young musicians who travelled around Australia presenting Czech music. That took a lot of preparation. It can be linked to some event organised here on our premises, like a small exhibition of young Czech painters or sculptors.
“It can be supporting Czech companies at some trade fair. Soon we will be going to Avalon, the largest air and space fair here in Australia, to present the Czech companies and their knowledge. It can be going to meetings, supporting strong causes that the Czech Republic stands behind, like support for Ukraine or the free trade agreement between the European Union and Australia. It can be little personal projects that we want to do, like organising the programme for children from the Czech community.
“There's a lot of traveling, I have to say. I'm not only in charge of Australia, but also of Czech relations with New Zealand and several Pacific countries. So whatever happens in Fiji, Tonga, Vanuatu, Samoa, the Cook Islands and the Solomon Islands, we are looking at how the Czech Republic can be present, or what can be done bilaterally. We look at what our Czech citizens need in, for example, New Zealand, how to explain the electronic vote or the correspondence vote, and how to support the Czech schools in the different countries.
“There's a lot of traveling, I have to say. I'm not only in charge of Australia, but also of Czech relations with New Zealand and several Pacific countries.”
“I am very grateful for the second Czech mission that we have in Australia, our consul general in Sydney. That provides consular assistance to thousands of Czech citizens who live in our region, and to all of the Czech citizens who come to visit. There is no typical day!”
I can understand that the Czech Republic needs embassies and consulates everywhere, because Czechs are everywhere! I think it's a very well-travelled country, so you have to be prepared for that.
“But we also inform Australians and New Zealand citizens about the Czech Republic, and share our knowledge and recommendations. Probably the biggest role of the embassy is communication in this respect.”
It seems to be working – I hear Australians all around Prague! Now, within your role, do you believe that there are challenges and difficulties that you have faced as a female ambassador, which your male counterparts may not have faced?
“I think the role of female diplomats and female ambassadors nowadays is much easier than it used to be at the beginning of the diplomatic service, when a woman was usually in the position of a secretary or an assistant – something more technical or administrative.
“I think the job as such, being a diplomat or working for the Foreign Service is challenging in itself, for women and for men. It's not just being a diplomat, having a high-ranking job. It's a service that takes all your time. It’s a service not just from yourself, but from the whole family. That's probably sometimes not a fact that people realise. Most people see the receptions and the meetings, but do not realise that it's a service from the whole family.
“It’s a service not just from yourself, but from the whole family.”
“It is probably a challenge more for women than for men, because of the difficulty of balancing the important roles in your life – being a mother or wife, while fulfilling a time-consuming job, is sometimes difficult. You are also sometimes in the public eye, which for some of us can be a little bit more demanding. You sometimes might not be facing comments on what job you do, but what you look like.
“At the same time, I think the challenge is also to find a strong man. Every strong woman needs a strong man. You have to have a partner next to you who will be willing to travel around the world with you, and maybe stand in the background. He will accept your independence and the workload, and will sometimes take the role which is gender-oriented, where usually the role of a woman is expected.
“Then, when it comes to the work, then of course as a woman you look at small, gender-based tasks linked to protocol, like accompanying visitors and going to cultural events that are more female-oriented. But that's not a challenge, that's a pleasure.”
So when you have these decisions to make, like moving to Australia away from Europe, this is a group decision? This is something that you would need to decide on as a family?
“It is definitely a team decision. The whole family has to stand behind it, and even then it can be difficult. Once you come to a country, you live in the reality, and you actually leave the rest of your family behind, sometimes elderly parents, siblings, a network of friends who are on the other side of the world, but who you need or want to be in touch with.
“Every strong woman needs a strong man. You have to have a partner next to you who will be willing to travel around the world with you.”
“It can be difficult for you, but it can be more difficult for the rest of the family, especially when the children get to a certain age, like puberty. I remember a colleague of mine whose children were slightly older than mine. She actually said that she knew exactly when the children hated her. When they grow up they realise what advantages they had living in a foreign country, to experience moments that other people only read about, to meet people who are or will be famous, to have moments in life that are very special. But at certain points it can be difficult for them.
“But still it's a wonderful job!”
Czechoslovakia's first democratic ambassador to the USA: The story of Rita Klímová
Czechoslovakia did not see its first women in ambassadorial positions until the 1990s. During the First Republic and during communism, top diplomatic posts remained inaccessible to women. In February 1990, Rita Klímová was appointed the first woman in the history of Czechoslovak diplomacy to the position of ambassador to the USA.
Klímová grew up in the family of a journalist, in a left-wing intellectual environment. She spent part of her childhood and adolescence in the United States, where the family fled to from the Nazis. Her lifelong admiration for America stemmed from this period. After the war, the family returned to Czechoslovakia, where Rita graduated from an English grammar school. She was an ardent communist during this time, and an enthusiasm for building led her to get a job sawing wood. Later, she graduated from the University of Economics, where she worked at the Department of the History of Economic Theories, from 1969 holding the position of an associate professor.
Her career and position were also influenced by her marriage to Zdeněk Mlynář, a prominent communist politician and member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. However, the events of the Prague Spring and subsequent Normalisation period made Rita Klímová a prominent dissident, organising private meetings of economists and producing samizdat literature. She was dismissed fired from her university post and expelled from the party in 1970. She was an active feminist and maintained these views throughout her life.
November 1989 completely changed Rita Klímová’s life. She became a translator and organiser of the Civic Forum, and worked alongside future presidents Václav Havel and Václav Klaus. Her professional life culminated in her appointment in 1990 as the first female Czechoslovak ambassador to the United States of America, her first diplomatic role. Unfortunately, her work was affected by a serious illness, and she died from leukaemia on December 30th 1993 at the age of 62. Despite the short length of her tenure as ambassador, she did much to raise support for the new Czechoslovak democracy. She is also credited with coining the phrase ‘Velvet Revolution’.
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