Dr. Jara Moserova, a Vice President of the International Communications Forum. died on 25th March at her home in Prague. A remarkable figure in the life of Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic, she had been active with the ICF since the early nineties taking part in many of its conferences across the world.

By professional training she was a doctor and burns specialist and had been part of the team that tried to save the life of the student, Jan Palach, who immolated himself in protest against the Soviet occupation of his country. Earlier she had been a GP in a coal mining area and being of small stature had, during mining accidents crawled through collapsed tunnels to reach injured miners and treat them.

Following the “Velvet Revolution” when her country freed itself from the Red Army’s control, she was a member of the National Council which preceded the new Parliament. She was the appointed Ambassador to Australia and New Zealand for several years and on return to Prague became President of UNESCO for her country and later chaired the General Conference of UNESCO, its senior position. In parallel with this activity she was elected a Senator for the city of Pardubice, famous for its great steeplechase. Doubtless the fact that she was the translator into Czech of the Dick Francis detective novels in horse racing settings, had something to do with her national popularity. When introduced to Czech audiences that raised a far greater cheer than her other more sophisticated achievements. For two years she was a Vice President of the Senate and later, following the retirement of Vaclav Havel, a candidate for the national presidency.

With all this activity, she was also a talented musician and painter and a playwright and film producer. Coming to one of the ICF’s early conferences, she quickly realised its significance for the life and influence of the media. At one point she considered dropping her political life to work full- time for the Forum. She took particular interest in the role of entertainment in affecting the purpose and behaviour of humanity. Her plays and films aimed to point up answers for the problems, social and personal that affect the life of society. They always dealt with real situations and challenged the individual to change and action. We of the Forum deeply grieve her passing and our sympathies are with her husband Milan David and her relatives and friends and the Czech people who adored and trusted her.