We knew where we were coming from and where we were going
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Jan Josef IV. Nepomuk Maria Kašpar Leonard Dominik Dobrzenský of Dobrzenicz was born in Prague on 14 June 1946 into the noble Dobrzenský family. His family received countship at the beginning of the 20th century. His father Jan Maxmilián Dobrzenský and grandfather Jan Josef III. Dobrzenský were signatories of the Declarations of the Czech Nobility of 1938-1939 which expressed their loyalty to the Czech nation. After the communists came to power in 1948, the family emigrated to France and to Canada in 1951. The parents initially had to earn their living by manual labour, later the father worked as a sales representative and the mother as a secretary. Jan Josef was brought up in the spirit of Czech patriotism but did not expect to return to Czechoslovakia. Jan Josef Dobrzenský went to France in 1966 where he worked for a glassworks producing cosmetic bottles and pharmaceutical glass. He studied business management and obtained an MBA degree at the Institut européen d’administration des affaires in Fontainebleau. He later worked for the company that owned Delvita supermarkets. In 1990, Jan Josef Dobrzenský returned to Czechoslovakia and convinced his family to move back to their homeland. In restitution, they were given back their real estate and part of the castle furnishings. He took part in the restoration of their chateau in Chotěboř. Jan Josef Dobrzenský has been a member of the Military and Hospital Order of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem since 1976. In 2004, he was elected the Czech Grand Prior of the order and in 2010, after the resignation of the then Grand Master, he became the head of the entire order.
