I wanted to live as a decent human being which wasn´t possible in a socialist country
Zuzana Brikcius née Jelínková was born on January 12th of 1960 in Praha. She was raised by her grandparents. She spoke German at home, so after she begun to study at the elementary school, she was struggling with the Czech language. She graduated from the School of communal dining. As a seventeen-year old, she got into a company of people who publicly opposed the communist regime. She voiced her protest against the fact that she had been growing up in a non-democratic country right after reaching majority. She refused to vote; an act considered a provocation by the socialist regime. In 1978, she signed the Charter 77 declaration. Several times, she had been interrogated by the Secret Police. In 1982, she immigrated into Austria legally. The communist regime offered the Charter 77 signatories such an opportunity as a means to supress the dissemination of anti-communist ideas in Czechoslovakia. She settled in Vienna and married Eugen Brikcius, a writer. She had been working as translator and teacher. She curated many exhibitions. She has been living both in Vienna and Praha.
