Inventory of the Ferdinand Peroutka papers
Finding aid prepared by Martina Podsklanova
Hoover Institution Library and Archives
© 2010, 2014
434 Galvez Mall
Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-6003
hoover-library-archives@stanford.edu
Title: Ferdinand Peroutka papers
Date (inclusive): 1935-1978
Collection Number: 84052
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material: In Czech and English
Physical Description:
16 manuscript boxes, 41 sound tape reels
(10.8 Linear Feet)
Abstract: Correspondence, memoranda, writings, and printed matter, relating to postwar conditions in Czechoslovakia, the internal administration
of Radio Free Europe, and Czechoslovak émigré politics.
Creator:
Peroutka, Ferdinand
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Access
The collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual
or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.
Use
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Acquisition Information
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 1984.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Ferdinand Peroutka papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Biographical Note
1895 February 6 |
Born, Prague, Austro-Hungary |
1919-1923 |
Editor, the daily
Tribuna
|
1924-1939 |
Editor, the daily
Lidové noviny
|
|
Co-Founder and Editor-in-Chief, the weekly Přítomnost (founded with support from President Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, and with
Karel Čapek and other prominent writers as regular contributors)
|
1925 |
Author,
Boje o dnešek
|
1933-1938 |
Author,
Budování státu, a multiple-volume monograph
|
1939-1945 |
Imprisoned, Dachau and Buchenwald concentration camps |
1945-1946 |
Member, Czechoslovak National Assembly |
1945-1948 |
Editor, the daily
Svobodné noviny
|
1946-1948 |
Editor-in-Chief, the weekly
Dnešek
|
1947 |
Author,
Tak nebo tak
|
1948 |
Immigrated to London, Great Britain; published in émigré periodicals throughout his career (
Hlas domova,
Americké listy,
České slovo, and others)
|
|
Author,
Oblak a valčík: kolektivní drama o dvanácti obrazech
|
1949 |
Author,
Byl Edvard Beneš vinen?
|
1950 |
Moved to New York, USA |
Circa 1950-1957 |
Member, Rada svobodného Československa (The Council of Free Czechoslovakia) |
1950-1964 |
Editor-in-Chief, Radio Free Europe Czechoslovak Desk |
1951-1977 |
Author, weekly broadcast addresses in Radio Free Europe (published as a three-volume monograph
Mluví k vám Ferdinand Peroutka: rozhlasové komentáře rádia Svobodná Evropa, 2003-2006)
|
1955 |
Married Slávka Fenclová |
1959 |
Author, Democratic Manifesto |
1976 |
Author,
Oblak a valčík: román
|
1978 April 20 |
Died, New York |
Scope and Content of Collection
Contains correspondence with prominent Czechoslovak cultural and political figures in Czechoslovakia and in exile, and with
American intellectual elites, as well as Peroutka's writings in exile. Also included are correspondence and internal documents
of Radio Free Europe and the Council of Free Czechoslovakia (Rada svobodného Československa). Transcripts of Peroutka's radio
addresses and sound recordings of Radio Free Europe programs form the final and most extensive part of the collection.
Related Materials
Ladislav Feierabend papers, Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Michal Múdry papers, Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Radio Free Europe broadcast records, Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Radio Free Europe corporate records, Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Jaroslav Stránský papers, Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Josef Škvorecký papers, Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Audiotapes
Journalists
Radio broadcasting -- Europe, Eastern
Czechoslovakia -- History -- 1945-1992
Czechoslovakia -- Emigration and immigration
Radio Free Europe
Correspondence
1935-1978, undated
Scope and Contents note
Contains correspondence with prominent Czechoslovak cultural and political figures in Czechoslovakia and in exile, with American
intellectual elites, letters related to Radio Free Europe and to Peroutka's writings, as well as other correspondence. Arranged
alphabetically and then chronologically.
box 1, folder 1
Altschul, Frank
1951-1957
Scope and Contents note
Includes a report on the public image of Edvard Beneš in post-war Czechoslovakia
box 1, folder 1
Bachstein, Martin Karl
1970
box 1, folder 1
Beneš, Vojta
1950
undated
box 1, folder 1
Bryan, David Tennant
1959
box 1, folder 1
Buber-Neumann, Margarete
1954
Scope and Contents note
Contains a letter with questions on Milena Jesenská
box 1, folder 1
Ciprisová, Hana
1974
1976
box 1, folder 1
Československý poradní sbor v západní Evropě (Czechoslovak Advisory Committee in Western Europe)
1978
box 1, folder 1
Československý zahraniční ústav v exilu
1956
Scope and Contents note
Contains a report on Peroutka's view of the Sudeten-German question
box 1, folder 3
Dresler, Jaroslav
1959, 1976, 1978
box 1, folder 3
Feierabend, Ladislav
1953
box 1, folder 3
Feldstein, Petr,
Student: Týdeník československého svazu mládeže
1968
box 1, folder 4
Firt, Julius
1951-1977, undated
box 1, folder 5
Galantière, Lewis
1956
1959
box 1, folder 5
Griffith, William E.
1951
box 1, folder 5
Hájek, H.J.,
Skutečnost: Independent Review in Czech and Slovak
1953-1954
box 1, folder 5
Heidler, Alexander
1954, 1959
box 1, folder 5
Heidrich, Arnošt
1953-1968
undated
Scope and Contents note
Includes his personal recollections of World War II, including his imprisonment by the Gestapo, and a letter from his family
on his passing
box 1, folder 5
Hladík, J., Československá obec legionářská v exilu - Francie
1957
box 1, folder 5
Holman, Josef A.
1976, undated
box 1, folder 6
Hostovský, Egon
1957
1961
Scope and Contents note
Contains a report on behalf of Hostovský to John Richardson, Jr.
box 1, folder 6
Ingr, [?]
1971
Scope and Contents note
Contains a report on a meeting with Erich von Manstein
box 1, folder 6
Jelinowiczová?, Jiřina
1974-1975
box 1, folder 7
Káča (Kateřina), United Nations
1974
box 1, folder 7
Kohák, Miloslav
1952
1954
box 1, folder 7
Kostrba-Skalický, O.
1953
box 1, folder 7
Koželuhová-Procházková, Helena
1951
1954
box 1, folder 8
M., M.
1968
Scope and Contents note
Contains a letter on the situation in Czechoslovakia after the Prague Spring events, and a photograph of the National Museum
in Prague
box 1, folder 9
Mandlová, Adina
1965
1978
undated
box 1, folder 10
Matějka, Ladislav
1952-1957
box 1, folder 10
Múdry, Michal
1972
Scope and Contents note
Also contains letters by Jaroslav Pecháček
box 1, folder 10
Němeček, Zdeněk
1950-1957
box 1, folder 11
Pachman, Luděk
1972-1977
Scope and Contents note
Contains a report on a conversation with Pachman, then a recent émigré, on general conditions in Czechoslovakia and on the
regime's treatment of anti-government politicians after the Prague Spring
box 1, folder 11
Pejskar, Josef
1956, 1959, undated
Scope and Contents note
Contains a letter signed by Petr Z. [Zenkl?]
box 1, folder 11
Pitter, Přemysl
1965
1975
box 1, folder 11
Přístupa, Gustav
1953
Scope and Contents note
Also contains letters to Petr Zenkl
box 1, folder 11
Rádl, Ota and Lucie Rádlová
1951
box 1, folder 11
Růžičková, Svatava
1954
1956
box 1, folder 11
Sokol - Tělocvičná jednota v Paříži
1958
box 1, folder 12
Sokolová, Meda
1951-1956
undated
box 1, folder 13
Součková, Milada
1957
1972
box 1, folder 13
Společnost pro vědy a umění (Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences in America)
1977
box 1, folder 13
Stránský, Jan
1977-1978
Scope and Contents note
Includes a letter from Slávka Peroutková to Míla and Eva, and a letter from Míla
box 1, folder 14
Stránský, Jaroslav
1950-1964
undated
box 1, folder 15
Svoboda, Vladimír, Naarden Movement
1970
box 1, folder 15
Škvor, Jiří and Pavel Javor
1956
1957
box 1, folder 16
Škvorecký, Josef and Zdena
box 1, folder 16
Škvorecká
1973-1978
undated
box 1, folder 17
Švehlová-Černá, Helena
1958
box 1, folder 17
Váňa, František
1969-1973
box 1, folder 18
Voskovec, Jiří
1950-1965
undated
box 1, folder 19
Vrázová, Vlasta
1950
1956
box 1, folder 21
Zich, Jaroslav V., ú střední svaz československého studentstva v exilu
1954
box 1, folder 21
Žáčková-Batková, Jaromíra
1952
box 1, folder 22
Official letters from Moscow by Klement Gottwald and Zdeněk Fierlinger, typescripts
1943 December 21
box 1, folder 23
Unidentified correspondence
1971, 1976, undated
Writings
1946-1978, undated
Scope and Contents note
Contains writings by or about Peroutka, including typescripts of his essays, plays, and other writings, reviews of his writings
and related documents, newspaper clippings including caricatures of him in the Czechoslovak domestic press, interviews, and
materials related to his passing in 1978. Arranged by subject.
box 1, folder 24
Writings and interviews in typescript
1946-1970, undated
box 2, folder 1
Rozhovor mezi p. Simonem, představitelem dra. Lodgmana, a p. Peroutkou and Interview of Mr. Simon, Representative of Dr. Lodgman,
with Mr. Peroutka
1953 April 20
Scope and Contents note
Contains a handwritten record of the conversation on the Sudeten-German question and an English translation in typescript
box 2, folder 2
Cartoons on or caricatures of Peroutka and Radio Free Europe in the Soviet bloc press
1953
box 2, folder 3
Reviews, comments, newspaper clippings and related materials on Peroutka's book
Democratic Manifesto
1959-1963, undated
box 2, folder 4
Byl Beneš vinen?, pamphlet, and its translation
Was Eduard Beneš guilty?, typescript
1973
undated
box 2, folder 5
Obituaries, telegrams, newspaper clippings and related materials on Peroutka's passing
1978
box 2, folder 6
If I Were Born Again, typescript of a play
undated
box 2, folder 7
Šťastlivec Sulla, typescript of a play
undated
box 2, folder 8
Reviews of Peroutka's books, by Jaroslav Dresler and by an unknown author
undated
box 2, folder 9-10
Boje o dnešek, photocopy of Peroutka's book published in 1925
box 2, folder 11
Tak nebo tak, photocopy of Peroutka's book published in 1947
Newspaper Clippings and Reports
circa 1951-1978
Scope and Contents note
Contains articles by or about Peroutka and about Czechoslovak affairs in American émigré and Czechoslovak domestic press.
Arranged generally in the original order.
box 3, folder 1-3
Newspapers clippings and reports
circa 1951-1978
box 3, folder 4
Newspapers clippings
circa 1960s
Rada svobodného Československa (The Council of Free Czechoslovakia) Documents
1950-1957, undated
Scope and Contents note
Contains correspondence, reports and other materials, also related to the Radio Free Europe.
Arrangement note
Arranged chronologically.
Radio Free Europe Internal Documents
1950-1977, undated
Scope and Contents note
Contains reports, correspondence and related documents on current political events in Czechoslovakia, on the affairs within
the Czechoslovak desk, and on Peroutka's writings.
Arrangement note
Arranged chronologically in two groups.
box 4, folder 2
Radio Free Europe documents
1950-1954
box 4, folder 3
Radio Free Europe documents
1955
box 4, folder 4
Radio Free Europe documents
circa 1950s
box 4, folder 5
Radio Free Europe documents
1960-1977
box 4, folder 6
Radio Free Europe documents
undated
box 4, folder 7
RFE Kostrba Affair, a folder with correspondence and reports on tensions within the RFE Czechoslovak Desk
1960-1961, undated
box 4, folder 8
The Czecho-Slovak Problem: Answer to the Memorandum of Mr. Matus Cernak entitled "The Slovaks and Radio Free Europe,"
undated
box 4, folder 9
The Czechoslovak Problem and the Radio Free Europe: Reply to the Memorandum Submitted by the Slovak Liberation Committee,
undated
box 4, folder 10
Have Czech and Slovak Exiles Collaborated with Communism?: Second Part of the Answer to the Memorandum of the Slovak Liberation
Committee,
undated
Radio Free Europe Broadcast Transcripts
1951-1976
Scope and Contents note
Contains transcripts of Peroutka's weekly addresses, the so-called Sunday Talks or Weekly Talks, and their English translations,
in typescript. Arranged chronologically.
box 5, folder 1
Odpověd Mr. C. D. Jacksonovi and its translation, Peroutka's speech: Special broadcast
1951 May 1
box 6, folder 1-11
1954 May - 1955 September
box 7, folder 1-10
1955 October - 1956 August
box 8, folder 1-10
1956 September - 1957 July
box 11, folder 1-9
1959 November - 1961 December
box 12, folder 1-8
1962 January - 1963 August
box 13, folder 1-10
1963 September - 1965 May
box 16, folder 1-11
1972 March - 1976 December
Radio Free Europe Broadcast Sound Recordings
1955-1956, undated
Scope and Contents note
Contains Peroutka's play Šťastlivec Sulla, his weekly addresses, and other Radio Free Europe programs; 41 reels, transferred
to digital files in June 2010. Arranged generally in the original order.
reel 1
Ferdinand Peroutka: Šťastlivec Sulla, Part 1, in Czech
undated
Access
Use copy reference number: 84052_a_0003643 (part)
Scope and Contents note
Contains an introductory commentary and the first part of a Radio Free Europe production of the play
reel 2
Ferdinand Peroutka: Šťastlivec Sulla, Part 2, in Czech
undated
Access
Use copy reference number: 84052_a_0003643 (part)
Scope and Contents note
Contains the second part of a Radio Free Europe production of the play.
reel 3
Ferdinand Peroutka: Šťastlivec Sulla, Part 3, in Czech
undated
Access
Use copy reference number: 84052_a_0003643 (part)
Scope and Contents note
Contains the third part of a Radio Free Europe production of the play.
reel 4
Radio Free Europe recording and report of Zdeněk Němeček's funeral services in Munich and New York, with speeches read by
Julius Firt, Jan Tumlíř, Ferdinand Peroutka, Egon Hostovský, Jaroslav Drábek and Karel Steinbach, and with a reading from
Němeček's writings, in Czech
undated
Access
Use copy reference number: 84052_a_0003646
reel 5
Fragment of an interview with Peroutka by Kárnet (?), in Czech
undated
Access
Use copy reference number: 84052_a_0003647
Scope and Contents note
On the beginnings of his career as a writer, on the foundation of Czechoslovakia in 1918, and on other political issues
reel 6
Fragment of an interview with Peroutka by Kárnet (?), in Czech
undated
Access
Use copy reference number: 84052_a_0003649
Scope and Contents note
On the beginnings of his journalistic career, on the Rozvoj periodical, and on Russian literature and political culture
reel 7
A weekly commentary of Ferdinand Peroutka, in Czech
1955 April 30
Access
Use copy reference number: 84052_a_0003651
Scope and Contents note
On the image of women in Soviet discourse
reel 8
Rozhlasový lekár radio program, in Slovak
1956 November 10
Access
Use copy reference number: 84052_a_0003652 (part)
Scope and Contents note
Dr. Jozef Jakši and moderator Peter Račkovský discuss health issues
reel 8
A weekly commentary of Ferdinand Peroutka, in Czech
1956 November 10
Access
Use copy reference number: 84052_a_0003652 (part)
Scope and Contents note
On the 1956 Hungarian Revolution
reel 9
Sokolská hlídka radio program, in Czech
March 17
Access
Use copy reference number: 84052_a_0003653 (part)
Scope and Contents note
Commentaries by Marie Provazníková, Antonín Hřebík, Jarmila Uhlířová
reel 9
A weekly commentary of Ferdinand Peroutka, in Czech
March 17
Access
Use copy reference number: 84052_a_0003653 (part)
Scope and Contents note
On the decline of the economy in socialist Czechoslovakia
reel 10
A weekly commentary of Ferdinand Peroutka, in Czech
April 16
Access
Use copy reference number: 84052_a_0003654
Scope and Contents note
On the youth in socialist Czechoslovakia
reel 11
A weekly commentary of Ferdinand Peroutka, in Czech
October 27
Access
Use copy reference number: 84052_a_0003655
Scope and Contents note
On the anniversary of Czechoslovakia's foundation, Stalinism, and political culture in Poland
reel 12
An interview with Peroutka by Kárnet (?), Part 1, in Czech
1967
Access
Use copy reference number: 84052_a_0003658 (part)
Scope and Contents note
On Czech literature and culture
reel 13
An interview with Peroutka by Kárnet (?), Part 2, in Czech
1967
Access
Use copy reference number: 84052_a_0003658 (part)
Scope and Contents note
On Czech literature and culture, unfinished
reel 14
Fragment of an interview with Peroutka by Kárnet (?), in Czech
undated
Access
Use copy reference number: 84052_a_0003661
Scope and Contents note
On communism
reel 15
Dialogue between Peroutka and Karel Steinbach, with reminiscences of their New Year's Eve celebrations in Czechoslovakia,
Part 1, unedited, in Czech
circa 1971
Access
Use copy reference number: 84052_a_0003662 (part)
reel 16
Dialogue between Peroutka and Karel Steinbach, with reminiscences of their New Year's Eve celebrations in Czechoslovakia,
Part 2, unedited, in Czech
circa 1971
Access
Use copy reference number: 84052_a_0003662 (part)
reel 17
Lecture by Jaroslav Stránský about a poet František Gellner with readings from Gellner's writings, Part 1, in Czech
circa 1964
Access
Use copy reference number: 84052_a_0003663 (part)
reel 18
Lecture by Jaroslav Stránský about a poet František Gellner with readings from Gellner's writings, Part 2, in Czech
circa 1964
Access
Use copy reference number: 84052_a_0003663 (part)
reel 19
Interview with Peroutka by Z. Eliáš (?), Part 1, unedited, in Czech
undated
Access
Use copy reference number: 84052_a_0003664 (part)
Scope and Contents note
On Czechoslovak political culture
reel 20
Interview with Peroutka by Z. Eliáš (?), Part 1, unedited, in Czech
undated
Access
Use copy reference number: 84052_a_0003664 (part)
Scope and Contents note
On Czechoslovak political culture
reel 21
Interview with Peroutka by Z. Eliáš (?), Part 1, edited, in Czech
undated
Access
Use copy reference number: 84052_a_0003665 (part)
Scope and Contents note
On Czechoslovak political culture
reel 22
Interview with Peroutka by Z. Eliáš (?), Part 2, edited, in Czech
undated
Access
Use copy reference number: 84052_a_0003665 (part)
Scope and Contents note
On Czechoslovak political culture
reel 23
Interview with Peroutka by Z. Eliáš (?), Part 3, edited, in Czech
undated
Access
Use copy reference number: 84052_a_0003665 (part)
Scope and Contents note
On Czechoslovak political culture
reel 24
Radio Free Europe New Year's Eve program moderated by Jirka Planér, Part 1, in Czech
circa 1971
Access
Use copy reference number: 84052_a_0003671 (part)
reel 25
Radio Free Europe New Year's Eve program moderated by Jirka Planér, Part 2, in Czech
circa 1971
Access
Use copy reference number: 84052_a_0003671 (part)
Scope and Contents note
Contains the edited version of a dialogue between Peroutka and Karel Steinbach, with reminiscences of their New Year's Eve
celebrations in Czechoslovakia
reel 26
Fragment of an interview with Peroutka, in Czech
undated
Access
Use copy reference number: 84052_a_0003672
Scope and Contents note
On Czechoslovak and European history and politics, and on Jan Masaryk and his passing
reel 27
Fragment of an interview with Peroutka, in Czech
undated
Access
Use copy reference number: 84052_a_0003673
Scope and Contents note
On Czechoslovak and European history and politics, and on Jan Masaryk and his passing
reel 28
Fragment of an interview with Peroutka, in Czech
undated
Access
Use copy reference number: 84052_a_0003675
Scope and Contents note
On Czechoslovak and European history and politics, Czechoslovak communists and Julius Fučík
reel 29
Fragment of an interview with Peroutka, in Czech
undated
Access
Use copy reference number: 84052_a_0003677
Scope and Contents note
On Czechoslovak and European history and politics, Czechoslovak communists and Julius Fučík
reel 30
Fragment of an interview with Peroutka, in Czech
undated
Access
Use copy reference number: 84052_a_0003678
Scope and Contents note
On Czechoslovak communists and Klement Gottwald
reel 31
Fragment of an interview with Peroutka, in Czech
undated
Access
Use copy reference number: 84052_a_0003679
Scope and Contents note
On Czechoslovak communists and Klement Gottwald
reel 32
Fragment of an interview with Peroutka, in Czech
undated
Access
Use copy reference number: 84052_a_0003681
Scope and Contents note
On Stalin's purges in Czechoslovakia
reel 33
Fragment of an interview with Peroutka, in Czech
undated
Access
Use copy reference number: 84052_a_0003682
Scope and Contents note
On Stalin's purges and communism in Czechoslovakia
reel 34
Fragment of an interview with Peroutka, in Czech
undated
Access
Use copy reference number: 84052_a_0003683
Scope and Contents note
On Stalin's purges and communism in Czechoslovakia
reel 35
Fragment of an interview with Peroutka, in Czech
undated
Access
Use copy reference number: 84052_a_0003684
Scope and Contents note
On the events surrounding the 1948 communist putsch
reel 36
Fragment of an interview with Peroutka, in Czech
undated
Access
Use copy reference number: 84052_a_0003685
Scope and Contents note
On the events leading to Peroutka's emigration from Czechoslovakia in 1948 and on Vladimír Clementis
reel 37
Fragment of an interview with Peroutka, in Czech
undated
Access
Use copy reference number: 84052_a_0003688
Scope and Contents note
On Peroutka's political career after 1945, his decision to emigrate from Czechoslovakia in 1948, Vladimír Clementis and George
Orwell
reel 38
Fragment of an interview with Peroutka, in Czech
undated
Access
Use copy reference number: 84052_a_0003689
Scope and Contents note
On George Orwell and the Czechoslovak exile culture
reel 39
Fragment of an interview with Peroutka, in Czech
undated
Access
Use copy reference number: 84052_a_0003690
Scope and Contents note
On Peroutka's decision to emigrate from Czechoslovakia in 1948
reel 40
Funeral service for Peroutka, Part 1, in Czech and English
1978
Access
Use copy reference number: 84052_a_0003561
Scope and Contents note
Commendation by a priest and speeches of Josef Škvorecký and Jiří Voskovec
reel 41
Funeral service for Peroutka, Part 2, in Czech
1978
Access
Use copy reference number: 84052_a_0003562
Scope and Contents note
Speech by Karel Steinbach and the Czechoslovak anthem