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Josef Škvorecký (1924-2012) was a writer and publisher. After receiveing his PhD in Philosophy, Škvorecký began to write novels, which were banned by the Communist government in Czechoslovakia. Many of his works espoused democratic ideals that threatened the state of the government, but his novels helped to usher in the Prague Spring in 1968. When the Russian army invaded Czechoslovakia that same year, Škvorecký and his wife found asylum in Canada, where the pair founded a publishing house that emphasized the publication of banned Czech and Slovak books. Škvorecký remained in Canada for the remainder of his life. He won the 1980 Neustadt Prize.