The Changing Life of Lída Merlínová in the 20th Century

Historian Denisa Vídeňská will guide you through the changing life of Czech writer, dancer and soubrette Lída Merlínová (1906–1988), drawing extensively on personal materials.

From the 1920s onwards, Merlínová wrote and published numerous articles and essays devoted to queer people, the decriminalisation of homosexuality, and lesbian love and intimacy. She was, among other things, the author of the first Czech lesbian novel Vyhnanci lásky (1929) and a contributor to the magazine Hlas. In her youth she married Cyril Pecháček, while at the same time forming relationships with women. In the 1940s she was caught up in a police investigation linked to the criminalisation of homosexuality.

After World War II her husband died and Merlínová lived in Prague in a shared household with her lifelong partner K. Lukašovská. Although almost no written sources documenting their life together have survived, her private archive contains many photographs capturing their shared life as well as the presence of their pets.

Speaker Mgr. Denisa Vídeňská, Ph.D. – a historian whose research focuses on reflections of aristocratic upbringing in the 19th century from the perspective of the children themselves, primarily through their private correspondence and other personal sources. She also explores forms of lesbian love and sexuality in the 20th century. In 2024 she defended her dissertation entitled "Maminko máš to marné, já muže ráda nemám…": Forms of Lesbian Love and Sexuality in the First Half of the 20th Century. In the 2025/2026 academic year she is a post-doc researcher at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Brno University of Technology. She is a member of the board of Společnost pro queer paměť.

Admission – free

Accessibility – suitable for teens, dog-friendly

Vibe check – quiet event (no loud music, shouting, etc.), seating available, indoor space

Trigger warnings – oppression of LGBTIQ+ people in the 20th century, mentions of suicide

Organised by – Společnost pro queer paměť, z. s. Společnost pro queer paměť is a non-governmental non-profit organisation whose aim is to collect, preserve, research and popularise the past of queer people in the Czech lands. It comprises a museum with a unique collection documenting the lives of queer people (including an oral history sub-collection), an archive of individuals and organisations, and a specialised library containing both contemporary literature and periodicals as well as valuable historical prints. The organisation makes its collections, archive and library available to researchers.