List of the award-winning personalities and their brief resumés:

Resumés of recipients of The Silver Medal of Jan Masaryk awarded by Ambassador Libor Sečka at the State Reception of the Czech Republic in London on 27 September 2018

Miroslav Ambroz

Art historian, curator and art expert, long-term associate of the Embassy of the Czech Republic in the field of culture. He has participated in organising the exhibitions of the Czech artists Pavel Brázda in Birmingham City Library in 2017 and Vladimír Kokolia in the Ikon Gallery in Birmingham in 2018. He is also well known as part of the team renovating the functionalist villa Tugendhat in Brno, which was registered in 2001 to the UNESCO World Heritage List.
 

Eva Jiřičná

Architect and designer, active in both London and Prague. She is famous for her interior design of fashion boutiques in London and New York. Since 1997, she has been a member of the Royal Academy of Arts in London. Some of her most important works include the interior of the Dancing House in Prague, the Tomáš Baťa University Center in Zlín, Czech Republic, the bus terminal at Canada Water London Underground Station, and the Boiler House Yard building at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. In 2018, she was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Medal at London Design Week.

Markéta Luskačová

Photographer and long-term resident in the UK where she actively participates in expatriate life. She emigrated to the United Kingdom in 1975. Since the 1960s she has created more than two dozen photographic cycles. Among the most famous are the "Pilgrims” of the Victoria & Albert Museum series in the 1980s, and the "Spitalfields" cycle documenting street markets in London. In 2018, the Association of Professional Photographers of the Czech Republic awarded her the prize "Personality of Czech Photography – in recognition for the Long-term Contribution to Czech Photography".

Jan Marek

Renowned cardiologist specialising in pediatric and prenatal cardiology. Currently, he is the leading physician in the field of echocardiography and prenatal cardiology at Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital. He is also Professor of the Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences at Charles University and University College London. He participated in the development of prenatal cardiology and ultrasound diagnosis of congenital heart defects in the Czech Republic. In 2012, he became professor of the First Faculty of Medicine of Charles University in Prague.

Marek Němec

Keen organiser of social compatriot life in Manchester and its surroundings. He has long been assisting with cultural and other projects of the Czech Embassy in the region and has been actively helping with the opening of the Consulate General of the Czech Republic there. In 2018, he participated in the successful tour of the Dejvické Theater in Manchester.

Richard Phillips MBE

Theater director, director of music festivals and promoter of Czech music. During his career, he has established a number of music festivals throughout the United Kingdom. Thanks to his relentless promotion and support, many Czech chamber ensembles have had the opportunity to perform alongside the top orchestras (for example, within the Royal Leamington Spa Festival, where Richard is a director). In 2016, he was awarded the MBE title for his services to music and arts.

Jan Telenský

Entrepreneur and a prominent philanthropist who supports the activities of the Czech Embassy in London, mostly of a cultural character. He significantly contributed to the cultural and public diplomacy programme of the Embassy - "Czech Republic 100". Since moving to the United Kingdom in the 1960s, Jan Telenský has successfully devoted himself to philanthropy, especially in the field of education and the development of new innovative educational methods with the help of virtual reality, but he also implements housing projects with an emphasis on sustainable development. After 1989, he expanded his business activities to the Czech Republic and Slovakia. He continually initiates and develops new projects, supports athletes and carries out charity activities.

Sir John Tusa

British historian and prominent journalist of Czech origin. Since 1960, he has worked at the BBC, including holding the post of World Service Director and as Director of programmes such as BBC's Hours and Newsnight. In addition to his engagement at the BBC, Sir John was president of Wolfson College at Cambridge University in 1993 and was elected to the presidency of the London University of the Arts in 2007. From 1995 to 2007, he was the Managing Director of the Barbican Art Center in London.

Sir John sent a letter of thanks for the award to Ambassador Sečka who was very delighted to receive it. The letter is, with Sir John´s kind permission, available in this attachment (PDF, 219 KB).

Jonathan Watkins

Director of the Ikon Gallery in Birmingham, artistic curator, member of the Board of Directors of a number of major British museums and art companies, director of art festivals in a number of countries (Canada, Australia among others). He has contributed significantly to the promotion of Czech art in the West Midlands and cooperated closely with the Embassy of the Czech Republic in London, to open exhibitions of the Czech artists Pavel Brázda (2017) and Vladimír Kokolia (2018) in Birmigham.

Jiří Zrůst

Managing Director of the Macquaire company in London. A long-term partner of the Embassy in many economic and cultural projects, e.g. in the joint conference of Czech Radio and the BBC Radio called "Truth and Power" held in London in June 2018. He manages Macquarie's portfolio of investments in Continental Europe in the field of energy, transport and telecommunications. He also contributes to the development of cooperation between the Czech Republic and Britain, as part of his role as Chairman of the Board of the Czech Section of the Edinburgh International Prize Foundation, which helps to develop informal education and personal growth of young Czech people in the fields of sport, volunteering and talent development.