Jak šli tím zdejším světem... Rodinné album – Hazdra Zdeněk (2021)

Many know singer Karel Zich as a prominent figure in Czech popular music. However, less is known about his background, which comes from a family with an extraordinary cultural and intellectual tradition. In the book "Jak šli tím zdejším světem," the stories of his father Otakar, who founded the first department of logic at Charles University, and both grandfathers come to life: the significant aesthetician and composer Otakar Zich and Karel Moravec, a violist and member of the world-renowned Ševčík-Lhotský Quartet. This is done through photographs, correspondence, typed memories, and also the narration of the singer's sister Marie Bořek-Dohalská, with whom Karel shared a deep friendship through her husband Václav, a descendant of an ancient noble family. Gradually, the reader unravels the web of relationships and connections among the Dohalský, Zich, and Moravec families and their remarkable friends from the worlds of art, science, and politics, including Jan and Rafael Kubelík, Karel and Emil Burian, Ema Destinnová, and Rudolf Firkušný. This mosaic of stories also includes František and Klotylda Vuršrové, Karel Zich's great-great-grandparents, who established the "Krásnohorská" guesthouse in Česká Kubice at the end of the 19th century. It was a sought-after place for Czech patriots and art lovers. Right here, in…