1. Traditional business in the Czech Republic …..up to 1989

2. Getting to know each other About me This is me

3. Getting to know each other About me Birthplace

4. Getting to know each other About me Birthplace Also lived & worked

5. Getting to know each other Also worked in……… Bermuda, Jamaica, Cayman, St Lucia, Trinidad, Venezuela, USA, Columbia Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Qatar, S. Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Swaziland Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Ghana, Morocco, Nigeria, Cameroon, China, Palau, Russia, and, of course, the Czech Republic!

6. An appreciation of dates Pre 1914 –Austro-Hungarian empire; Czechoslovakia created 1918 1918-1939 1939-1945 –German occupation 1945-1989 –Communist regime (Influenced by Russia) –“Prague spring” 1968 –“Velvet revolution” November 1989 Post 1989

7. Traditional industries (1) “Heavy industry” Engineering Skoda Tesla Mining “Black” coal “Soft” coal

12. “Open-cast” coal mining at Bilina

13. Traditional industries (1) “Heavy industry” Engineering Skoda Tesla Mining “Black” coal “Soft” coal Clay Graphite (Portuguese: “argila”) Silver  Uranium

15. Traditional industries (2) Specialised –Shoes –Glassware and Porcelain Cut glass (glass with a decorative pattern cut into the surface) Glass crystal (transparent glass of very high quality, usually with its surface cut into delicate patterns)

16. 14 th century glassmaking

17. 18th century glassmaking areas

21. Traditional industries (2) Specialised –Shoes –Glassware and Porcelain Cut glass (glass with a decorative pattern cut into the surface) Glass crystal (transparent glass of very high quality, usually with its surface cut into delicate patterns) –Contact lenses

22. Prof. Otto Wichterle Inventor of the “soft” contact lens

23. On this home-built apparatus, Prof. Wichterle produced his first “soft” contact lens in his kitchen in 1961

24. Traditional industries (2) Specialised –Shoes –Glassware and Porcelain Cut glass (glass with a decorative pattern cut into the surface) Glass crystal (transparent glass of very high quality, usually with its surface cut into delicate patterns) –Contact lenses –Films

25. A selection of traditional Czech films

26. Traditional industries (2) Specialised –Shoes –Glassware and Porcelain Cut glass (glass with a decorative pattern cut into the surface) Glass crystal (transparent glass of very high quality, usually with its surface cut into delicate patterns) –Contact lenses –Films –Chemical –Medical –Musical instruments etc, etc, etc………

27. Traditional industries (3) Other –Brewing …….also, wines and spirits –Agribusiness Livestock  milk/cheese/meat Timber Fruit/vegetables etc, etc, etc………

31. Thank you! You can find this presentation at http://www.richardinprague.eu