SURVIVOR

During the “normalization” of the country, strict censorship took control of the country. The government banned Marta from performing on allegations of pornography. The state booking agency Pragokoncert started circulating doctored photos of Marta in a pornographic magazine, which appeared to show Marta in the nude. Marta took the agency to court for defamation and won, but her career was ruined. For 20 years, communists blacklisted her, completely ostracizing her from the music industry. She was told that if she would support normalization that she could sing again. Instead, she did a series of menial jobs. Václav Havel, a family friend who later became president of the country said, “She wouldn’t sing if it meant making compromises.” She ended up finding a job gluing bags together for toys. With her last royalty from Supraphon, she bought a washing machine. In the midst of all of this, she also lost a baby in the eighth month of her pregnancy and survived clinical death. She never gave in to the communists. On June 1, 1979, Marta gave birth to her daughter Kateřina who filled her life with new meaning, joy, and strength. 

 

Marta Kubišová with her daughter Kateřina

Photo credit: www.martakubisova.cz