LEADER

In 1995, President Václav Havel awarded Marta with the Medal of Merit and the Honorary Medal of T.G. Masaryk (1998). Writer Adam Georgiev published a biography of her life called Chasing the Sun (Chytat slunce). The Czech Academy of Popular Music inducted her into its hall of fame in 1998. She won the prestigious Thalia award in 2002 for her role in the Czech adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical Tell Me on a Sunday. In 2008, she was awarded a lifetime achievement award. Ultimately, she performed her last concert in her hometown of České Budejovice on November 1, 2017, coinciding with her 75th birthday. Her immortal ballad, A Prayer for Martha, won Czech Radio’s Hit of the Century poll in 2018. When asked what her message is to future generations, she said in an interview with the Prague Monitor, “Always want the truth, because without it there is no freedom.”  
 
Photo credit: www.martakubisova.cz