Ľubomír Feldek is a Slovak

Slovakia

The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...

 poet, writer, playwright, and translator. He is married to Oľga Feldeková.

Feldek is the author of several books of poetry (Kriedový kruh, Paracelsus, and Milovanie pred usnutím), the novel Van Stiphout, and several plays including Teta na zjedenie or Jánošík podľa Vivaldiho. He translates works of modern world poets (Alexander Blok

Alexander Blok

Alexander Alexandrovich Blok was a Russian lyrical poet.-Life and career:Blok was born in Saint Petersburg, into a sophisticated and intellectual family. Some of his relatives were literary men, his father being a law professor in Warsaw, and his maternal grandfather the rector of Saint Petersburg...

, Vladimir Mayakovsky

Vladimir Mayakovsky

Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky was a Russian and Soviet poet and playwright, among the foremost representatives of early-20th century Russian Futurism.- Early life :...

, or Guillaume Apollinaire

Guillaume Apollinaire

Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki, known as Guillaume Apollinaire was a French poet, playwright, short story writer, novelist, and art critic born in Italy to a Polish mother....

) as well as classical plays (such as those by Sophocles

Sophocles

Sophocles is one of three ancient Greek tragedians whose plays have survived. His first plays were written later than those of Aeschylus, and earlier than or contemporary with those of Euripides...

 and William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...

). He has also written a couple of books for children, most notably the Modrá kniha rozprávok and Zelená kniha rozprávok illustrated by Albín Brunovský

Albín Brunovský

Albín Brunovský was a Slovak painter, graphic artist, lithographer, illustrator and pedagogue, considered one of the greatest Slovak painters of the 20th century....

. According to the Index Translationum

Index Translationum

The Index Translationum is UNESCO's database of book translations. Books have been translated for thousands of years, with no central record of the fact. The League of Nations established a record of translations in 1932. In 1946, the United Nations superseded the League and UNESCO was assigned the...

 statistics, he is among the top ten most translated authors writing in Slovak language.

In January 1989 he protested against the arrest of Václav Havel

Václav Havel

Václav Havel is a Czech playwright, essayist, poet, dissident and politician. He was the tenth and last President of Czechoslovakia and the first President of the Czech Republic . He has written over twenty plays and numerous non-fiction works, translated internationally...

 and signed a political manifesto A Couple of Sentences. During the Velvet Revolution

Velvet Revolution

The Velvet Revolution or Gentle Revolution was a non-violent revolution in Czechoslovakia that took place from November 17 – December 29, 1989...

 he closely cooperated with the movement Public Against Violence

Public Against Violence

The Public Against Violence was a political movement that was established in Bratislava, Slovakia on 20 November 1989. It was the Slovak counterpart of the Czech Civic Forum ....

, which transformed itself into a political party later on.

Feldek vs. Slobodník and Feldek vs. Slovakia

In 1992, Feldek publicly noted that "Dušan Slobodník became Minister of Culture and his fascist past immediately came to light", referencing to his involvement in an SS training course as a teenager (at the age of 17) in Sekule at the time of the First Slovak Republic. The statement was published shortly after the appointment of a new Government, following the 1992 parliamentary elections, in which Slobodník became a minister. Feldek has also written the poem Dobrú noc, moja milá, containing the verse "esesák sa objal s eštébákom" (an SS man

Schutzstaffel

The Schutzstaffel |Sig runes]]) was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Built upon the Nazi ideology, the SS under Heinrich Himmler's command was responsible for many of the crimes against humanity during World War II...

 gave a hug to an STB agent

State Security (Czechoslovakia)

In former Czechoslovakia, State Security or StB / ŠtB, was a plainclothes secret police force from 1945 to its dissolution in 1990...

), referencing to the disputed past of both Dušan Slobodník

Dušan Slobodník

Dušan Slobodník was a Slovak literary theoretician, translator and politician. He was the Minister of Culture of Slovakia from 1992 to 1994, in Vladimír Mečiar's first government...

 and Prime Minister Vladimír Mečiar

Vladimír Meciar

Vladimír Mečiar is a Slovak politician who was Prime Minister of Slovakia from 1990 to 1991, from 1992 to 1994, and from 1994 to 1998. He is the leader of the People's Party - Movement for a Democratic Slovakia...

. Slobodník sued him for defamation, and after losing at the Municipal Court in Bratislava

Bratislava

Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia and, with a population of about 431,000, also the country's largest city. Bratislava is in southwestern Slovakia on both banks of the Danube River. Bordering Austria and Hungary, it is the only national capital that borders two independent countries.Bratislava...

, a senate consisting of three Supreme Court members voted in his favor. Feldek was obliged to apologize and pay 250,000 SKK

Slovak koruna

In 1993, coins were introduced in denominations of 10, 20 and 50 haliers, 1, 2, 5 and 10 korunas. The 10 and 20 halier coins were taken out of circulation on 31 December 2003....

. Although the senate of appeal of the Supreme Court abolished the financial penalty, Feldek's defendant Ernest Valko

Ernest Valko

Ernest Valko, JUDr., PhD. was the former Chairman of the Czechoslovak Constitutional Court and prominent Slovak lawyer. Valko was shot dead inside his home in Limbach in 2010...

 brought the case to the European Court of Human Rights

European Court of Human Rights

The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg is a supra-national court established by the European Convention on Human Rights and hears complaints that a contracting state has violated the human rights enshrined in the Convention and its protocols. Complaints can be brought by individuals or...

 in Strasbourg

Strasbourg

Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...

. In 2001, in the Feldek vs. Slovakia case, the court ruled that freedom of speech

Freedom of speech

Freedom of speech is the freedom to speak freely without censorship. The term freedom of expression is sometimes used synonymously, but includes any act of seeking, receiving and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used...

 was breached. Feldek was awarded damages amounting to 500,000 SKK.

Feldek and his family moved to Prague

Prague

Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...

in 1995, but he himself moved back to Bratislava several years later.