Pavel Žák

Pavel Žák was born on 28 August 1941 in Rychnov nad Kněžnou, in eastern Bohemia. He completed his secondary education at the higher teacher training school in Hradec Králové in the mid 1950s, according to his Czech Wikipedia biography. He then studied harmony and composition by distance learning at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (AMU), graduating in 1963. Between 1964 and 1968 he also studied by distance learning at Charles University.

After his studies Žák worked as a teacher and methodologist at the Julius Fučík central house of Pioneers and youth in Prague. In this period he began working with the composer Jaroslav Jakoubek, and together they wrote songs for Karel Hála, Hana Hegerová and Eva Olmerová.

In 1967 he was dramaturge and sound director at the World Exhibition, Expo 67, in Montreal. For Czechoslovak Radio he was author, music director and screenwriter of many programmes, including Radionokturno, Houpačka, Koncert Mikrofóra, Junior 30, Top twenty, Radioburza and Junior večerník. He also worked in the literary, drama and music departments of children's and youth programming at Czechoslovak Television.

As a lyricist he worked with composers including Karel Vágner, Zdeněk Merta, Aleš Sigmund, Zdeněk Marat and Vítězslav Hádl. He wrote above all for Hana Zagorová, Petr Rezek, the duo Stanislav Hložek and Petr Kotvald, and Karel Černoch. His best known lyrics include Holky z naší školky and Polibek for Hložek and Kotvald, Duhová víla, Kapky and Maluj zase obrázky for Zagorová, Přátelství and Obyčejnej kluk for Rezek, and Zrcadlo, Docela obyčejná píseň and Píseň o mé zemi for Černoch. For some songs he also wrote the music, a genre he described as pop chanson, and he composed music for television films and plays.

Píseň o mé zemi won the Golden Bratislava Lyre in 1969, a year after Docela obyčejná píseň won the Silver Lyre. In a statement after his death, his family said the song was seen as a protest against the occupation of Czechoslovakia by Warsaw Pact troops in August 1968. Communist censors later banned it, Karel Černoch faced a ban on performing, and Žák was dismissed from Czechoslovak Radio.

He was also the author of poetry collections for children and adults, Žákajda and Kalamajky.

Žák's first son, Ondřej Žák, was born in 1963, the year he graduated from the Academy of Performing Arts. His son Přemysl Žák confirmed his death to the Czech News Agency (ČTK) and the family issued a press statement about his life and work.

Pavel Žák died in Prague on Sunday 1 November 2026, aged 85. His son Přemysl Žák confirmed the death to the Czech News Agency, and it was reported the same day by ČT24, Radio Prague International, iDNES.cz, Novinky and Deník. The cause of death was not made public in the first reports, and funeral arrangements had not been announced.

Žák is remembered as one of the leading lyricists of Czech popular music from the 1960s to the 1990s, the author of words sung by many of the country's best known singers, and of songs such as Holky z naší školky and Duhová víla that remained widely known for decades. Píseň o mé zemi is remembered for its association with the response to the 1968 occupation. His honours included the Golden and Silver Bratislava Lyre, the Děčínská kotva and Zlatý palcát awards, and in 2021 the Medal of Merit, first grade, for his contribution to culture and the arts. For his 80th birthday Supraphon released a six disc compilation spanning his work from 1967 to 2014.