"The Institute of Shorthand had one typical characteristic, that it was a repository of not quite suitable political cadres. My husband was the prototype of this - he had to be employed somewhere he could. So he worked as a teacher in the shorthand institute." - "How was that possible, explain..." - "Because he only trained adults. Sometimes there were high school students in the courses, but that was more of an exception, mainly adults were trained. Back then, it was considered, you couldn't spoil adults anymore."
"Of course, it marked us that dad was a tradesman. But we had to overcome that somehow to be able to apply ourselves. We couldn't study much. My cousin who was in class with me became an auto mechanic, and I went to business school, but only for two years. First of all, there was no money for other studies, and secondly, there were various street trustees in the street, and they gave credentials for the school reports. They said that a two-year school was enough for me and that my cousin needed an apprenticeship. That's all we needed."
"There was a problem with the trade, which was then nationalised sometime in the early 1950s. They incorporated the cars [from my father and uncle's car transport business] into CSAD or something similar, and my father and uncle had to integrate into the normal work process. Dad joined the car cooperative where he worked in the warehouse as a warehouse man, and uncle, who was a a car mechanic, went to the workshops at the CTU and worked there as a machine locksmith. Students from the CTU also practiced in the workshops. So he worked in that area and operated the machines there."
Ing. Ludmila Nováková, nee. Češpivová, was born on January 29, 1941 in Prague to František and Josefa, nee. Trmalová, who had a small farm in Prosek, Prague. Her childhood was marked by the premature death of her mother and the difficult working conditions of her father, a tradesman who ran a car transport business. Despite her excellent grades, Ludmila Nováková was not recommended for studies for political reasons and could only enrol in a two-year economic school, which she graduated from in 1957. She then got a job at the State Institute of Shorthand, where she worked until its closure in 1999, the last years as its director. During her time at the institute, Ludmila completed her education, passed her high school diploma and graduated from the University of Economics in 1967. She passed her chamber exams and worked as a stenographer in the National Assembly. Until she was 70, she taught shorthand, typing and other subjects. Her passion for shorthand brought her success in competitions at home and abroad. She married a stenographer, Jiri Novak, a doctor of philosophy, whom she met in the 1960s at the State Shorthand Institute and with whom she has a daughter. Ludmila Nováková remains active in her old age. She still participates in parliamentary sessions as a stenographer and is chairwoman of the Shorthand Society, which tries to preserve the field for future generations. In 2024 she was living in Prague.
