On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of Diplomatic Relations between Malta and the Czech Republic, The Embassy of the

Czech Republic in Rome together with the

Honorary Consulate of the Czech Republic in Malta and the

Balzan Local Council commemorated the famous Czech actress Adina Mandlová who lived for some time in

Alley No. 2, St Mary Street, Balzan by unveiling a

commemorative plaque in her honour close to the residence.

Adina Mandlová (1910 – 1991) was one of the most famous and best-known Czech actresses of the 30s and 40s. Many people still consider her the greatest Czech film star and all that comes with this title. Men adored her and girls dreamed of being like her. Most often she portrayed arrogant, poor but honest girls or rich and bored wives.

She was born on 28 January 1910 at Mladá Boleslav. She was the youngest of four children, after three boys the only daughter. Her father had always wanted a little girl, and he took her education very seriously and taught her to play the piano. When Adina was eight years old, her father suddenly died. She did well at school but had problems with behaviour. At 17 she went to study in Paris but after two years she was suspended from the college.

After her return to Prague she worked as a model and for the first time played a small part in the movie Girl, don´t say no! Later she met famous Czech actor Hugo Haas who introduced her to the world of cinema and the arts. She lived with him for some time and they acted together in eight films. In all she acted in 32 films, performing alongside famous Czech actors such as Oldrich Nový and Raul Schránil, as well as Martin Fric and Otakar Vávra, two of the most important Czech directors. She married for the first time in 1943, but her marriage to the painter Zdenek Tuma lasted only a short time.

Adina´s success, her pride and Bohemian way of life were the basis for many rumours during World War II. The most famous of these claimed that she was the mistress of the powerful Nazi state secretary K. H. Frank but the truth was that he could not stand her. She was interrogated after the war for collaborating with the Germans. She had in fact appeared in only one German film, but after three months in prison she was released for lack of evidence.

Because she could not find work and because she was persecuted she married the Czech-British pilot Josef Kocvárek in 1947. After obtaining British citizenship she lived in London where she tried to get on with her film career. She appeared on TV only a few times and had only two roles in the theatre.

She married again in 1949, this time to billionaire Geoffrey. But not even this marriage, during which she underwent medical treatment for tuberculosis in Switzerland, was happy.

In 1954 she married the British fashion designer Ben Pearson, for whom she had worked as a model. She found happiness with him and they lived for 37 years together. They lived in Malta between 1967 – 1981 and as Mandlova recalls in her autobiography: “Today I can laugh about it” it was a beautiful, peaceful and harmonious time in her life.

After the death of her husband in 1991 she went back to Czechoslovakia where she immediately became the centre of public attention. She did not hide that she wanted to spend her last years there. She died on 16 June 1991 and was buried according to her wishes in the most simple shroud with a half-opened rose.

The life of Adina Mandlová could fill volumes. Beautiful, talented, intelligent, admired, she was a sex symbol of the 1930s. Her name alone filled cinemas. But behind this was an unhappy woman who hated mediocrity and who reached both the top but had also touched rock bottom.

On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of Diplomatic Relations between Malta and the Czech Republic, The Embassy of the Czech Republic in Rome together with the Honorary Consulate of the Czech Republic in Malta and the Balzan local council commemorated Adina Mandlová who lived for some time in Alley No. 2, St Mary Street, Balzan by unveiling a commemorative plaque in her honour close to the residence. H. E. Vladimir Zavazal unveiled the plaque purposely manufactured by a Czech artist on 10 July in the presence of the mayor of Balzan Dr John Zammit Montebello, local councillors and members of the Czech community in Malta.