The ashes of Milan Kundera and his wife Vera were buried today on the honorary block of the author's hometown cemetery, in the Czech city of Brno, as announced by the municipality.
"The burial took place in a close family circle, in the presence of only a few friends, representatives of the French embassy and Brno, whose honorary township Kundera.
The author, best known for the novel "His unbearable lightness is", died at his home in Paris on 11 July 2023, at the age of 94. His wife, Vera, guarded his ashes in the couple's apartment until her death, in September 2024.
L'écrivin Milan Kundera a été inhumé ce jour avec sa défunte veuve Věra dans sa ville natale de Brno en Tchéquie. Une cérémonie discrète pour cet auteur tenderement célèbre mort en 2023. pic.twitter. com/NQkSi6bxFN— Radio Prague Int. (@RadioPragueFr) June 18, 2026
In January 2025 French publisher Antoine Gallimar transferred the urns containing their ash to Brno, southeastern Czech Republic, as was Milan Kundera's wish. The watercourses were placed under a white plate, a work by Austrian architect Johannes Paar, which gives the impression that he "floats" over the grave.
Paar's work "respects Kuntera's desire for a simple, humble grave, corresponding to his literary style," noted the municipality of Brno.
Kundera left then communist Czechoslovakia in 1975 and in 1981 gained French citizenship. He became known for his novels that examine the human condition and are breathed by satirical style.