I grew up knowing we had owned a chateau and a factory, and we have nothing
Stáhnout obrázek
Sonia Janečková Klímová was born in Rychnov nad Kněžnou on 21 September 1959. She comes from the well-known business Janeček family. Her great-grandfather František Janeček became famous for his activities in the electrical engineering and arms production. Grandfather František Karel Janeček followed in his father‘s footsteps. He founded the production of motorcycles and cars in the eastern Bohemia in the village of Kvasiny under the JAWA make. He is the inventor of the conical attachment, which was used by the Allied armies in the fight against Germany in World War II. The communist regime completely expropriated all the family‘s property. Her dad was not even allowed to take the state exams at the Czech Technical University. He managed to build a second career and graduated from the conservatory in violin. He became a renowned violinist and teacher. Because of her background, the witness faced difficulties to be admitted to secondary school and university. Soňa Janečková - Klímová graduated from a secondary school in Rychnov nad Kněžnou and then from the Faculty of Education in Hradec Králové. She taught Czech to foreign students at the Institute of Language and Preparatory Studies at Charles University. In 1988 she got married. She has two children, son Daniel and daughter Dominika. In 1992, the family was given back the chateau in Kvasiny and forests in the Orlické Mountains. Since 1992 she has been intensively involved in the renovation of the Kvasiny Chateau. She managed to reconstruct the dilapidated chateau and renew its surroundings. Various cultural and social events were held at the chateau and a permanent exhibition was created. In 2023 she was developping the family forestry business and living in Kvasiny.
