Jiří Navrátil

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Navrátil in July 2015

Jiří Navrátil (10 September 1923 – 16 January 2017) was a Czech scout leader and anti-communist activist. He served as the President of Junák, the Czech Scout and Guide association.

Early life[change | change source]

Navrátil was born in Germany. In 1937. he became a Scout in Prague.

Prison years[change | change source]

He was arrested and held several months by the Gestapo during World War II. In 1949, he tried to oppose the Communist takeover of Czechoslovakia with other Scouts. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison, and was released in 1960.

Career[change | change source]

During the Prague Spring in 1968, Navrátil was one of the refounders of Junák, the Czech Scout movement. The movement was suppressed again in 1970. Following the Velvet Revolution in 1989, he became one of the main Leaders of the third restoration of Junák.

He was one of the important people of the 1999 10th European Conference of Guiding and Scouting in Prague, in which President Václav Havel gave the opening speech.

Awards[change | change source]

In 2002, Navrátil was awarded the 292nd Bronze Wolf, the only distinction of the World Organization of the Scout Movement, awarded by the World Scout Committee for exceptional services to world Scouting.[1][2]

Death[change | change source]

Navrátil died on 16 January 2017 in Prague at the age of 93.[3]

References[change | change source]

  1. https://www.scout.org/BronzeWolfAward/list Archived 2020-11-29 at the Wayback Machine complete list
  2. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-02-19. Retrieved 2017-01-16.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. V 93 letech zemřel bývalý politický vězeň a skaut Jiří Navrátil (in Czech)