Czech Scholars in Exile, 1948-1989

Exile of a notable part of the Czech scientific community was one of the negative phenomena which essentially influenced Czech science in the Communist period. This phenomenon has not yet been explored systematically, and in spite of its significance, itstill remains on the verge of historians' interests. The project is focused on reasons and consequences of the Czech scientific exile 1948-1989, as well as on the target group of the Czech exile scientific workers of the CSAS in the years 1952-1989. Theproject will be tackled in three levels: A. Heuristic: Compile on the basis of archival research a possibly complete database of Czech exile scholars and assemble archival sources for keeping track of their life history. B. Encyclopaedic: Prepare an encyclopaedia with entries of about 80 Czech exile scholars. C. Interpreting: Examine scientific exile using new methodological tools and comparative analysis of the situation in other totalitarian countries.