The Franco-Czech writer Milan Kundera, who died on July 11 at the age of 94, was cremated in the strictest privacy, Gallimard editions announced on Wednesday. The author of The Unbearable Lightness of Being, after having lived in great discretion, did not want a funeral.
“Milan Kundera was cremated today”, in an unspecified place, and “the ceremony took place in the strictest privacy”, indicated in a press release the president of the publishing house, Antoine Gallimard. “The Janacek sonatina, played on the piano by Ludvik Kundera, Milan’s father, accompanied him during this last trip,” added Antoine Gallimard. This piece by Czech composer Leos Janacek was recorded by the novelist’s father, a renowned pianist who died in 1971.
Milan Kundera, born in Brno in 1929, exiled in France from 1975, was one of the great authors of 20th century literature. His novels question the human condition, the evolution of identity, the meaning of freedom, the hazards of existence or even the possibility of love.