Jarmila Novotná in Liteň

Jarmila Novotná (1907–1994) moved to Liteň after marriage to the heir of the manor Jiří Daubek in 1931. The couple lived in in the building Čechovna (“The Czech Family house”), named after the famous Czech poet and prose writer Svatopluk Čech (1847-1908). He lived there in the 1850’s with his father who served there as a custodian. Liteň became Jarmila’s home where she always liked to return. Crowds of friends came to visit the Daubeks in Liteň. To name a few of the aristocracy – Cecilia and Leopold Sternbergs, Mitrowskys , Lobkovitzs, Czernins, etc. Jan Masaryk felt at home there and was a frequent visitor . Artistic colleaques of Jarmila kept arriving at the door as well. Among them was the conductor Victor de Sabata,   pianists Rudolf Firkusny and Alfred Holeček etc.). The idyll didn’t last long. The Daubeks with two small children (Jarmila was born in 1932 and Jiří in 1938) were forced to leave the manor due to fascism. After 1945 the properties, devastated by the Red Army, werenationalized. The family was allowed to return in June 1947 only after many interventions at the highest levels. One of the first who came to visit was the family friend Jan Masaryk. After February 1948 the family lost their home – and their possessions – once again. The Daubeks became exiles and the manor gradually fell into disrepair. In 1972 the Daubeks were granted permission to visit their home country briefly and arrange for repairs to the family Mausoleum.. Subsequently, after her husband Jiri’s death in 1981, Jarmila was finally allowed to place his urn there in 1987. In 1990, her granddaughter Tatiana, the daughter of her son Jiří, was christened in the Liteň church. Finally, in 1994 her urn and ashes were placed in the Liteň tomb as well.