Milan Kundera

Milan Kundera (1929-2023) was a Professor of Comparative Literature and Film Studies at University of Rennes 2 from 1975-1979 after fleeing communist Czechoslovakia. His exile period in Rennes profoundly influenced his aesthetic philosophy and novels examining European identity, politics, and existence.

Taught seminars on European literary history that formed the basis for his essay 'The Art of the Novel'. His modernist approach blended irony and philosophical inquiry, extending to graphic art exhibited internationally. Major works include 'The Unbearable Lightness of Being' and 'The Book of Laughter and Forgetting'.