When they asked me for dinner in Paris, they showed me what central heating and recorders were
Pavel Klener is a haematologist, oncologist, and pioneer of chemotherapy treatment in our country. He was born on 9 April 1937 in Bratislava from where his family moved to Prague after the declaration of the Slovak State in March 1939. He witnessed the cruel behaviour of Czech people towards German prisoners of war in Malá Strana at the end of the war. He had many interests since he was a child: he sang in Kühn Children’s Choir, was an altar boy, and was a member of a Scout troop. He graduated in General Medicine at Charles University in 1961 and because he was not a member of the Czechoslovak Communist Party, he started to work at the Department of Surgery in Roudnice nad Labem. He managed to transfer to Prague II. internal clinic after a year. From 1965 to 1966, he completed a study programme at a haematological clinic of Professor Bernard in Hôpital Saint-Louis in Paris where he got to know the principles of chemotherapy. When he returned, he started to introduce this method as a new treatment in our country. He never joined the Czechoslovak Communist Party. He was appointed professor and head of the oncology clinic in 1988. During the Velvet Revolution in December 1989, he accepted an offer to become Minister of Health of the then Czech government and held that post for seven months. He was a deputy of the Czech National Council from 1990 to 1992. However, he never lost touch with “his” oncology and he gradually returned to his professional and academic work. He worked at General University Hospital in Prague in 2021. He still worked at General University Hospital in 2021. Pavel Klener passed away on September, the 20, 2024.