Czech philosopher, translator Jiří Pechar dies aged 93

Czech writer, translator, philosopher and literary critic Jiří Pechar died this Monday at the age of 93, the Institute of Philosophy at the Czech Academy of Sciences has announced via its website. Mr Pechar was the author of several theoretical works in the area of literature and philosophy. He was also a poet. He gained particular fame in his home country for his translations of the works of Marcel Proust, Sigmund Freud and Claude Lévi-Strauss.

Born in Příbram, Pechar studied Literature at the Philosophical Faculty of Charles University, also working as a journalist at for the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences. He lost his job for political reasons and became involved in amateur publishing for the next 30 years. During the 1970s and 1980s, Pechar was a contributor to several dissenting publications in what was then Communist Czechoslovakia.

After the Velvet Revolution Pechar would return to the Czech Academy of Sciences and also work at the Philosophical Faculty of Charles University.

In 2009, his memoir Život na hraně (Life on the Edge) was published.