Milan Kundera, ‘The Insufferable Lightness of Being’ Novelist, Dies at 94

Milan Kundera, whose 1984 novel “The Insufferable Lightness of Being” was became an Oscar-nominated movie, has died on the age of 94.

Kundera died Tuesday in Paris after a protracted sickness, Jindra Pavelková, a consultant of the Moravian Library, the Czech library housing his private assortment, advised Selection Wednesday.

“Milan Kundera was a author who reached complete generations of readers throughout all continents and achieved international fame,” Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala stated. “He leaves behind not solely notable fiction, but in addition vital essay work.”

The 1988 movie adaptation of “The Insufferable Lightness of Being” was directed by Philip Kaufman and starred Daniel Day-Lewis and Juliette Binoche. Jean-Claude Carrière and Kaufman had been Oscar nominated for tailored screenplay, and Sven Nykvist was Oscar nominated for cinematography.

Different movies based mostly on his writing embrace 1965’s “No one Will Chortle,” directed by Hynek Bocan, which received the Grand Prize at Mannheim-Heidelberg Movie Pageant, 1969’s “The Joke,” directed by Jaromil Jires, which performed at San Sebastián Movie Pageant, and 1969’s “I, the Distressing God,” directed by Antonín Kachlík.

Kundera was born in Brno, Czechoslovakia, in 1929. His first novel, “The Joke,” was printed in 1967, and was greeted with acclaim. French poet Louis Aragon referred to as it “one of many best novels of the century.”

In 1968, the Prague Spring, a interval of liberal reform in Czechoslovakia, was crushed by Soviet troops. Kundera criticized the invasion, and was subsequently ostracized by the Communist regime, and sacked from his publish at Prague’s FAMU movie college. “The Insufferable Lightness of Being” facilities on the Prague Spring and its aftermath.

In 1975, he emigrated to France, and was stripped of his Czechoslovak citizenship 4 years later. He grew to become a French citizen in 1981, and lived in France till his loss of life, though he was made a citizen of the Czech Republic in 2019.