Political activism and professional career His expulsion from the Communist party was described by Jan Trefulka in his novella Pršelo jim štěstí (Luck Rained on Them, 1962). Kundera also used the expulsion as an inspiration for the main theme of his novel Žert (The Joke, 1967), in which he ridiculed the ruling Communist party. In 1956 Kundera was readmitted to the party but was expelled for a second time in 1970. Clavel, André, ""L'intransigeant amoureux de la France"" L'Express, 3 April 2003 Kramer, Jane, "When there is no word for 'home', The New York Times, 29 April 1984 He took part in the Fourth Congress of the Czech Writers union in June 1967, where he delivered an impressive speech. In the speech he focused on the Czech effort to maintain a certain cultural independence among its larger European neighbours. Along with other reformist Communist writers such as Pavel Kohout, he was peripherally involved in the 1968 Prague Spring. This brief period of reformist activities was crushed by the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia in August 1968. Kundera remained committed to reforming Czechoslovak Communism, and argued vehemently in print with fellow Czech writer Václav Havel, saying, essentially, that everyone should remain calm and that "nobody is being locked up for his opinions yet," and "the significance of the Prague Autumn may ultimately be greater than that of the Prague Spring." In 1968, the year his books were banned by the Czech Government, he made his first journey to Paris, where he befriended the publisher Claude Gallimard. After he returned to Prague, he was frequently visited by Gallimard who encouraged Kundera to emigrate to France and also smuggled the manuscript for Life Is Elsewhere out of Czechoslovakia. Finally, Kundera gave in and moved to France in 1975. In 1979, his Czechoslovak citizenship was revoked. He lectured for a few years at the University of Rennes. After three years, he moved to Paris.
Political activism and professional career His expulsion from the Communist party was described by Jan Trefulka in his novella Pršelo jim štěstí (Luck Rained on Them 1962) Kundera also used the expulsion as an inspiration for the main theme of his novel Žert (The Joke 1967) in which he ridiculed the ruling Communist party In 1956 Kundera was readmitted to the party but was expelled for a second time in 1970 Clavel André ""L'intransigeant amoureux de la France"" L'Express 3 April 2003 Kramer Jane "When there is no word for 'home' The New York Times 29 April 1984 He took part in the Fourth Congress of the Czech Writers union in June 1967 where he delivered an impressive speech In the speech he focused on the Czech effort to maintain a certain cultural independence among its larger European neighbours Along with other reformist Communist writers such as Pavel Kohout he was peripherally involved in the 1968 Prague Spring This brief period of reformist activities was crushed by the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia in August 1968 Kundera remained committed to reforming Czechoslovak Communism and argued vehemently in print with fellow Czech writer Václav Havel saying essentially that everyone should remain calm and that "nobody is being locked up for his opinions yet" and "the significance of the Prague Autumn may ultimately be greater than that of the Prague Spring" In 1968 the year his books were banned by the Czech Government he made his first journey to Paris where he befriended the publisher Claude Gallimard After he returned to Prague he was frequently visited by Gallimard who encouraged Kundera to emigrate to France and also smuggled the manuscript for Life Is Elsewhere out of Czechoslovakia Finally Kundera gave in and moved to France in 1975 In 1979 his Czechoslovak citizenship was revoked He lectured for a few years at the University of Rennes After three years he moved to Paris