November 17 – Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences’ Anniversary

The November 17 was first declared as International Students’ Day in 1941 in London by the International Students’ Council. Struggle for Freedom and Demo­cracy Day (formely Students’ Struggle for Freedom and Democracy Day – established in 1990) has been observed as an official holiday in the Czech Republic since 2000. This date is also associated with the origin of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences (1952–1992), which comprised research institutes, a learned society and a body of academicians and corresponding members. Despite being subjected to heavy ideological pressure until the fall of the communist regime in 1989, Czech science was nevertheless able to maintain its creative energy in a number of instances and to find its way to the world scientific community (although there were disparities within the various fields of sciences during different periods of the regime).