Czech Republic Ambassador visits HMC

On 8 November, Harris Manchester College was delighted to receive the Ambassador of the Czech Republic to the UK, Václav Bartuška, and his wife, the harpist Kateřina Englichová.  

 

During a visit to the University, Ambassador Bartuška viewed some of the archive material that the Griffith Institute Archive (part of the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies) holds on noted Czech Egyptologist Jaroslav Černý, who was the subject of a recent biographical study by his compatriot, HMC Fellow and Tutor Dr Hana Navratilova, who was also present for the visit.  

After visiting the Faculty, the Ambassador was given an official welcome to the College by HMC Principal Professor Beth Breeze and shown around several key points of interest, including the Chapel, with its William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones designed windows, and the Tate Library.  

 

A man looks up in a college library. There is a statue behind him, and two women stand, one on each side of him, also looking up.

(From left) HMC Librarian Kate Alderson-Smith, with Ambassador Bartuška, and his wife, the harpist Kateřina Englichová

 

Ambassador Bartuška took up his role as Ambassador of the Czech Republic to the UK in August 2025. He was previously a Fulbright Visiting Scholar at Columbia University, and subsequently a Marshall Fellow in his thirties, giving him an affinity with HMC’s mission to promote lifelong learning as Oxford’s only college dedicated solely to mature students.   

He commented: “Universities are not just places where we studied while young; more and more we return to school as professionals - to learn new things, to re-start our careers, or simply to refresh one's mind.”