In the middle of the university botanical garden Na Slupi, a memorial plaque with a relief of Vladimír J. Krajina was ceremonially unveiled on 8 October 2002 on the building of the former Botanical Institute in Benátská 433/2. The memorial plaque made of polyester resin patinated like bronze was made by sculptor and artist Nina Jindřichová. The idea to create a memorial plaque came from the long-time director of the Botanical Garden of Charles University, Václav Větvička, and especially Professor Jan Jeník, who compiled a brief but concise inscription on the plaque:
PROF. V. J. KRAJINA / 1905-1993 / BOTANIST, POLITICIAN / NATIONAL HERO
The unveiling of the plaque ceremony was attended by the Ambassador of Canada to the Czech Republic, Margaret Huber, the Minister of the Environment of the Czech Republic, and representatives of the Czech Botanical Society and Krajina’s daughter Milena Jandová. As soon as 1990 V. Krajina was awarded the Order of the White Lion of the First Degree by President Václav Havel. On March 15, 1990, a very inspiring gathering attended by Professor V. J. Krajina himself, who headed the geobotanical department until the 1948 restrictions, took place here. He was then already a recognized scientific authority in the field of geobotany and plant systematics and, perhaps more importantly, a prominent anti-communist resistance fighter. That is why today the large botanical lecture room bears Krajina’s name.
Krajina received his doctorate in natural sciences in 1927 and was awarded an honorary gift from President T. G. Masaryk. He then continued his studies in Poland and as a fellow at Yale University and the Bishop Museum in Hawaii. In 1934 he habilitated with an extensive thesis on plant communities in the Mlynica Valley in the Slovakian High Tatra Mountains. Soon after the end of World War II he was appointed professor of botanical sciences. He was instrumental in expanding the valuable plant collections he brought back from his study trips to Hawaii and the Far East. However, he could not fully devote himself to his scientific research again until he emigrated after February 1948. This was from 1949 at the Department of Biology and Botany at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, where he became professor in 1958. In 1981 Prof. V. J. Krajina became a “Member of the Order of Canada” and in 1985 he was elected a Fellow of the Linnaean Society of London.
Geobotanist V. J. Krajina’s other life was his social involvement from 1939 on: he participated significantly in the anti-Nazi resistance during the Protectorate period as a correspondent and as a leading figure. At the beginning of the war, he set up a headquarters in his office on the first floor of the building at 2 Benátská Street and from there he sent messages to Great Britain by Sparta wireless. During the war he had to hide in many places in Prague and in the countryside, but was arrested by the Gestapo in early 1943. In 1945, he escaped an imminent execution in Terezín prison. Even after the war, although he was appointed professor, he did not fully engage in scientific activities. His political interest prevailed again - he was elected a member of the National Assembly and at the same time accepted the post of general secretary of the Czechoslovak National Socialist Party. In exile too he was fully involved in exile associations and political organizations (the Council of Free Czechoslovakia/1949, chairman of the Czechoslovak National Association in Canada/1951, the Czechoslovak Society for Sciences and Arts based in Washington/1958).
Vladimír J. Krajina died in Vancouver, but the urn with his ashes was placed at Prague Vyšehrad Cemetery in the symbolic grave of M. Horáková and all victims and opponents of totalitarian regimes).
Krajina, V.: Vysoká hra: vzpomínky, Praha 1994.
Drábek, J.: Dva životy Vladimíra Krajiny, Praha 2016.
