Czech state to buy Vysočina home of married poets Reynek and Renaud, create cultural centre

The Czech state plans to buy the Vysočina region home of the late poets Bohuslav Reynek and Suzanne Renaud and found a new cultural centre there.

Prime Minister Andrej Babiš and Minister of Culture Lubomír Zaorálek made the announcement following a visit to the château where the married poets had lived in the village of Petrkov, near Havlíčkův Brod.

Reynek was a Czech poet and printmaker. His French wife Renaud was also a poet, and a translator. Their home was declared a protected cultural monument in 2009.

After their château was put up for sale last May, a petition titled Save Petrkov! was launched to prevent its sale to private investors that collected nearly 2,000 signatures.

The Petrkov château should become state property by the end of the year, with its management entrusted to the Museum of National Literature.