Marie Provazníková

Marie Provazníková
Born	Marie Kalousova 24 October 1890 Prague, Austria-Hungary
Died	11 January 1991 (aged 100) Schenectady, New York, United States
Occupation(s)	Olympic Coach, Educator
Spouse	Frantisek Provaznik
Children	Alena Polesny, MD (nee Provaznikova)

Marie Provazníková (24 October 1890 – 11 January 1991) was the first President of the Women's Olympic Committee and coach of the 1948 Gold Medal winning Czech Gymnastic Team. She was responsible for changing the rules of women's gymnastic to be female oriented based on precision and grace rather than an imitation of strength based men's gymnastics.She was also a high ranking Czechoslovak sports official active in the Sokol movement. In her lifetime of 100 years, Marie Provaznίková dedicated herself to Sokol and contributed significantly to the field of physical education and gymnastics. Her leadership was recognized by international awards including the French Legion d’Honeur, Yugoslavia’s Sava Cravette, the key to the City of Chicago, and posthumously, the Order of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk. She refused the Iron Cross offered by Hitler and was in hiding throughout the second World War.Recognized for her calisthenics compositions and leadership abilities, she was called “Prvá”, a contraction of Pr(ovaznίko)vá, meaning “the first” in Czech. The nickname served as an unofficial signature, and was most fitting for someone of her stature.

Background

Born in Prague, on October 24, 1890 to Václav Kalouš, an engineer in iron bridge building and his wife Marie (née Klementová), a dressmaker, Provaznίková was the eldest of four children. The Kalouš parents were devoted to their family introducing the children to cultural and historic Prague on weekends, and spending the summer vacations in the country. Theirs was an uncomplicated middle class life. “Thanks to my parents, whose wisdom I learned to appreciate only many years later,” wrote Provaznίková, “I had a happy childhood.” The Kaloušes valued and made education available to their children.  According to her mother, Provaznίková was an easy child.

In primary school Provaznίková was a quick learner and excelled in all subjects; she loved physical education best joining Sokol in the second grade.  In Austro-Hungarian Bohemia, secondary education was not available to girls until the latter part of the 19th century.  In 1890, Minerva, a school for girls founded to educate future leaders, opened in Prague. In 1903 Provaznίková enrolled at Minerva and excelled both academically and in Sokol where she quickly became a junior Sokol instructor.

Her youth involved participation in sports, attending lectures, concerts, theater performances, going dancing, and ultimately meeting František Provaznίk, an artist, who designed and crafted jewelry and other metal artifacts. They married and on January 9, 1911 their daughter Alena was born.  František did not want his wife to work, but Provaznίková was determined to finish her studies. She accomplished this end in record time, taking classes simultaneously at Minerva and at the Charles University Institute for Teachers of Physical Education. Despite many obstacles including motherhood, WW I with the conscription of her husband to the Russian Front, and closures at the Institute, in June 1915, Provaznίková received her diploma and accomplished her goal of teacher of physical education at Minerva and at a girls’ secondary school in Smίchov. She also continued her participation and duties at Sokol Karlίn.

Career

The war ended in November 1918, a new nation was born, professionally and in Sokol, Provaznίková was now leading a new independent life the purpose of which revolved around the philosophy and practices of Sokol and all aspects of physical education. Beside her official work (as below) from 1922 she regularly wrote articles for Cvičitelka, a monthly magazine for women physical education instructors, broadcast on the radio, wrote books on Sokol, physical education, moral, social and physical fitness, and personal responsibility.

From 1897 until 1931 she rose through the ranks from child member to Náčelnice in Československá Obec Sokolská (ČOS), the national Sokol organization. Professionally, from 1916 and her first position at Minerva, she rose to full Professor of Physical Education at Charles University, member of the government Teacher Examination Board, Advisory Committee in the Ministry of Public Health and Physical Education, and Department Head of Physical Education of Girls and Women of National Voluntary Sport Organizations in the Ministry of Education.

Sokol principles, with a fundamental belief in true democracy, were at the core of her being.

In 1939 when Czechoslovakia became a Nazi Protectorate all efforts were made to suppress organizations which demonstrated a Czech/anti-Nazi spirit. Sokol was banned and university and secondary school teachers were forced to resign. Many Sokols were taken to and perished in concentration camps. Clandestine Sokol leadership meetings continued. Because of her organizational abilities Provaznίková was identified as the designated survivor of the war, tasked with re-establishing Sokol after liberation. Instructed to go into hiding, she fled to her daughter’s country cottage near Ždár nad Sázavou. The cottage was by a pond - Na Rendlίčku. As word spread, a saying developed:"Máme Náčelničku Na Rendlίčku." (We have the Dear Náčelnice at Rendlίček.)  There Provaznίková raised farm animals including the biggest hog any local farmer had ever raised.  Always productive, she supplied her family and Sokol friends with protein and other farm products. A major challenge was covertly raising and butchering the massive pig. Farm products were requisitioned by the Nazis and being caught with ’contraband’ was an offense punishable by death. Sokols came through for one another by making secret agreements for the ’contraband’ to be smuggled out in bits and pieces on bikes, buses and trains in rubber bags packed into suitcases. 

As Náčelnice, Provaznίková had presided over the women’s events of the 1932 and 1938 Slets and continued in that capacity preparing for the post war Slet. Although Sokol had been dissolved during the Protectorate, all wished for the Slets to continue. The slogan, “Slet bude!” (“There will be a Slet!”) resounded in the 1946 torch relay to the most distant reaches of the Republic, organized to communicate the message of preparations being made.  The next year’s relay heralded, “We are ready!”   Following the February 1948 putsch all physical education organizations were consolidated with Sokol. Before the Slet commenced Provaznίková delivered an inspirational address to “My Sisters” noting that the Slet would go on, that it would mark the end of a beautiful era, that it would be her final time directing them, and that the ideals of Sokol must continue. The Sokol boys and girls divisions performed several days before the official festival took place at the Strahov Stadium from July 1 – 8, 1948.  Náčelnice Provaznίková directed the activities of 66,367 senior women, 43,703 junior girls and 45,503 girls. Among the highlights was the innovative composition Rej (the romp) with 30,000 women performing. Statistics tell us that there were 585,000 gymnasts and 2 million observing spectators. At the time, in a country of 12.3 million, Sokol had 1,004,987 adult members. The air was ripe with resistance against the new Communist regime. Even though President Beneš had abdicated, 11-14 year old girls started the demonstrations by chanting, “Long live President Beneš”, and were joined by all spectators; Provaznίková did not stop them and other demonstrations ensued in the following days. Provaznίková was held accountable, interrogated by the secret police, and subsequently accompanied by a plainclothesman for the remainder of the Slet.  As word of the demonstrations and her detention spread, the public reacted by turning out in even greater numbers, hundreds of thousands filled the sidewalks and balconies to view Sokol parades and joined in the chanting of “Beneš! Beneš!”  About 160 Sokols were arrested, but attempts at mass arrests by the police were thwarted by the public. After the end of the Slet, there were massive arrests of Sokols throughout the country.   Resistance against tyranny was the legacy of the 1948 XI Sokol Slet. Earlier, in 1945, ČOS accepted participation in the 1948 Olympic Games planned for London.  Execution of gymnastic events fell to the Fédération international de gymnastique (FIG) which had to abide by the rules of the Olympic Committee. The three Czechoslovak representatives were those from before WW II and included Provazníková, vice president of the women’s technical committee. After the international gymnastic federation elected Provazníková, as Director of Women’s Events she convened a meeting of the women’s technical committee in Amsterdam to review the field of gymnastics which had evolved differently in many countries; in some, it was similar to that of Sokol: movements were to be feminized both in calisthenics and small apparatus, with importance placed on correct execution.  Many believe that these new rules were the foundation of the current Olympic gymnastics for women.The Communist regime tried to prevent Provazníková from obtaining an exit visa for the Olympics and withheld her passport until the close of the day of her flight to London.  Unbeknownst to her, the British consulate had been given orders to stay open until her passport was received and paperwork processed. Who gave this order remains unknown.

Upon arrival in London Provaznίková realized that there were no standardized judging guidelines and quickly organized training of judges for women’s gymnastics events.  Her team of 12 gymnasts had been training relentlessly. The communists insisted on inserting one of their own members onto the team. Provaznίková placed the “new” gymnast as the team leader thus freeing a team member to be a judge.  Tragically one of the team became sick with polio shortly after arrival in London and died while the team was performing and earning a perfect “10” score securing the gold medal for the 1948 Czechoslovak team. For the medal ceremony team members wore black armbands and a black sash was draped on the Czechoslovak flag.

Knowing with certainty that she would be arrested upon her return, Provaznίková decided to defect.  Blamed for the anti-Communist demonstrations and pronounced Communist enemy number one, at the close of the games she resigned her position in FIG announcing that she would not return to Czechoslovakia.  When international news media reported her defection it became clear that the takeover in Czechoslovakia had not been the will of the people, but had indeed been a putsch. Time magazine referred to her as “the first Olympian to have sought asylum”.

In 1947 as the leader of ČOS, Provaznίková had visited Sokol units in the USA. Prior to returning she deposited $200 in a Chicago Bank knowing that in post war Central Europe essential staples could not be found. She asked her American Sokol friends to buy items as needed and send them to her to Czechoslovakia. This account became important at the end of the London Olympic Games when she refused to return to her homeland.  

Getting refugee status in England, and later an entry visa to the US took nearly half a year. She used the time to contact the Czech network of BBC intending to transmit her message of pro-democracy/anti-communism to her countrymen. BBC management gave her prime time broadcasting status at 1:00 p.m. on Christmas Day, 1948. Reportedly in Czechoslovakia she was widely heard and transcripts were circulated throughout the Republic. This new chapter in her established broadcasting career was continued in the USA with weekly broadcasts on Voice of America and Radio Free Europe during much of the Communist era until the late ’70s.

Thanks to her active participation in FIG Women’s Technical Committee, Provaznίková became acquainted with Dr. Margaret Brown, president of Panzer College of Physical Education in East Orange N.J. as early as the Olympic Games in Berlin in 1936. They became friends when Brown came to Prague for the 1938 Slet. Upon hearing of Provaznίková’s defection, Brown offered her a teaching position at Panzer College as soon as she arrived in the USA.  She thus applied for a “Non quota visa” but needed an affidavit of her employment at Charles University, something no Communist functionary would grant.  After a long delay, a Minister of Education, also in exile, wrote a note confirming her University appointment but doubtful that his endorsement would be accepted without official stationery and official stamps. It was accepted as Christmas was approaching and her passport was valid only until December 31st. At Cunard Lines, she was told the first possible booking was in April. Ultimately, she purchased a First Class ticket spending almost the entire $200 she had deposited in America in 1947.  She sailed to the USA on December 24, 1948 and reached New York Harbor on January 2, 1949 - First Class, but totally penniless!

Upon arrival at the age of 58, Provaznίková joined the American workforce at Panzer College and registered with Sokol, New York.  Having witnessed Provaznίková’s talent in calisthenics composition, Dr. Brown, a delegate from the National Amateur Athletic Union, Gymnastic Committee of the United States of the Women‘s Technical Committee FIG, recommended Provaznίková to create the composition in rhythmic gymnastics for the American Gymnastic Olympic Team of 1952; this became her first contribution to her new homeland. She was also invited to join The President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports during the Eisenhower administration.

In the US at that time, Sokol was purely a physical education organization and did not adhere to the original philosophy of Tyrš and Fűgner. Provaznίková’s attitude was that “the responsibility of Sokols in exile was to show how Sokol can blossom in freedom.” By the end of 1950 “Czechoslovak Sokol Abroad” was formed. From its foundation until 1976 she carried out countless duties: national/international director of women, vice-president, and treasurer. In New York she set up “Relief for Sokols in Exile“, wherein clothing and money for medical supplies were collected and sent to Sokols in refugee camps.

She taught instructors’ schools in units in Canada, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, and wherever she was needed. She functioned as a member of the organizational committees for the Slets in Canada, Austria and Switzerland, and composed mass calisthenics exercises for the Slets in 1956, and 1962. Between 1956 and 1964 she helped organize, direct and promote camps for European Sokols in Austria, France and Switzerland. Between 1955 and 1967 she served as editor of the monthly bulletin “Czechoslovak Sokol Abroad”.

In 1956 Provaznίková gave up her teaching career and moved to Ohio to help her daughter’s family and continued her work for Voice of America and Radio Free Europe sharing stories of the free West to those behind the iron curtain.

In 1965 Provaznίková moved to NYC where she continued writing articles and books about Sokol and gymnastics related themes.  Always thinking about children and promoting/maintaining Czech culture and Sokol ideals, she created a summer camp in East Haddam, Connecticut so children and grandchildren of Czechs could be in nature, continue to speak Czech, and eat knedlίky and buchty.

At the age of 88 she moved to Salem, Oregon where she lived with her granddaughter and her family. Sokol brothers and sisters came to Salem to help update Sokol programs for instructors’ schools, revise the Sokol Manual, write her final work To Byl Sokol, and other books on terminology in gymnastics and related matters. Some helped her edit, some put háčky and čárky on her work as her American typewriter did not have that function. She corresponded with Sokols worldwide. Always interested in young people and engaging them in learning and physical activity, she created obstacle courses and treasure hunts for her grandson and his friends at the family’s mountain cabin. In Salem she insisted on contributing to the family budget by contacting the Oregon State Extension Service and learning to raise rabbits for meat.

At the age of 97 Provaznίková returned to her daughter’s home in Altamont, New York where she spent her final years. With assistance of Sokol sisters who came for extended visits from Czechoslovakia, she continued her Sokol work. With Sokol as the beneficiary of her labor and dedication, she always insisted that she received more from Sokol than she had been able to give.

Although she longed to return to her beloved motherland, and as the sole survivor of the “Golden Age of Sokol”, she refused to return and to die until Czechoslovakia was once more a free democracy. She did live to see a free Czechoslovakia but was never able to return, passing away at 100 years.

In 1992 she was awarded, in memoriam, the Order of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk by President Václav Havel.

February coup]].

After a few months’ stay in London she moved to the United States and resided there for the rest of her life, teaching PE and organizing Sokol units in the United States and internationally.

She lived to see the 1989 Velvet revolution and greeted with enthusiasm the revival of the Czechoslovak Sokol movement after four decades of Communist suppression.

Personal and death

Provazníková died at the age of 100 years in Schenectady, New York.

Awards

In 1948, Provazníková won a gold medal in women's gymnastics.

In 1992 she was awarded the Order of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, in memoriam, class III.

Published works

• (Co-authored by PECHLÁTOVÁ, Z.) Cvičení žen na kladinách. In: PECHLÁTOVÁ, Z. et al. Cvičení družstev ČOS v Lille v květnu 1921. Praha: Čsl. obec sokolská, 1921. 55 p. Sbírka sokolských veřejných vystoupení; I.
• Příprava na závody žen a dorostenek při IX. sletu všesokolském 1932. V Praze: Československá Obec Sokolská, 1931. 168 p. Knihovna cvičitelů sokolských; Volume 55.
• Dvanáct cvičebních hodin v tělocvičně. V Praze: Československá Obec Sokolská, 1931. 218 p. Knihovna cvičitelů sokolských; Vol. 52.
• Příprava na závody žen a dorostenek: poprvé vydáno k IX. sletu všesokolskému 1932: schváleno náčelnictvem žen ČOS na schůzi dne 27. listopadu 1931. 2nd ed. V Praze: Československá obec sokolská, 1932. 168 p. Knihovna cvičitelů sokolských; vol. 55.
• (Co-authored by PELIKÁN, J.) Napodobivá cvičení nejmladšího žactva (od 6 do 9 let). V Praze: Československá obec sokolská, 1932. 43 - [I] p. Sbírka společných cvičení IX. sletu všesokolského v Praze r. 1932; № 8.
• Prostná v příkladech. V Praze: Československá obec sokolská, 1933. 193 p. Knihovna cvičitelů sokolských; Vol. 62.
• Dvanáct cvičebních hodin v tělocvičně. 2nd ed. Praha: Česká obec sokolská, 1933. 219 p. Knihovna cvičitelů sokolských; vol. 52.
• (Co-authored by ROUBÍČKOVÁ, R., CIRPS, A.) Ženy a brannost: ochrana domácnosti při leteckém útoku. V Brně: Akce pro kulturní a politické uvědomování žen, [1937]. 24 p.
• Branná výchova sokolských žen. V Praze: Československá obec sokolská, 1937. 109, [II] p.
• Branná výchova sokolských žen. 2nd ed. V Praze: Československá obec sokolská, 1937. 110 p.
• Příprava žen v jednotách a v župách k X. všesokolskému sletu v Praze 1938. V Praze: Československá obec sokolská, 1938. 54, [2] p. Pokyny k X. všesokolskému sletu v Praze 1938; [№ 11]. Introduction by M. Provazníková
• Příprava dorostenek k X. všesokolskému sletu v Praze 1938. V Praze: Československá obec sokolská, 1938. 61, [1] p. Pokyny k X. všesokolskému sletu v Praze 1938; [№ 5]. Introduction by M. Provazníková
• Začátečnice: Cvičení žen a dorostenek I. stupně výcviku v zařízené tělocvičně. V Praze: Knihkupectví a nakladatelství Obce sokolské, 1939. 110 p.
• Táboření sokolských dorostenek a žen. Praha: Nakladatelství Obce sokolské, 1939. 169 p.
• (Co-authored by KOVÁŘOVÁ, L.) Příprava na závody žen středního a vyššího oddílu. V Praze: Knihkupectví a nakladatelství ČOS, 1940. 125 - [II] p.
• Podaly jste mi ruce, mé sestry. V Praze: Marie Provazníková, 1940. 23, [ii] p.
• Druhý stupeň cvičení žen a dorostenek v zařízené tělocvičně. V Praze: Knihkupectví a nakladatelství Obce sokolské, 1940. 120, [IV] p.
• Studentka Věra. 1st ed. Praha: V. Šeba, 1947. 134 p.
• Rádce sokolských činovníků. New York: Ústředí čsl. sokolstva v zahraničí, 1974. 67, v p.
• PROVAZNÍKOVÁ, M., ed. and ŠKVOR, J., ed. 11. všesokolský slet v Praze 1948. 1st ed. Curych: Konfrontace, 1976. 99 p. Knižnice Konfrontace.
• (Co-authored by ZABKA, N. B.) Gynmastic activities with hand apparatus for girls and boys: (ages 6-12 years). 4th printing. [Minneapolis, Minnesota]: [Burges publishing company], 1977. 7, 123 p.
• (Co-authored by TYRŠ, M.) Výklad Tyršovy soustavy a názvosloví; Doplněno článkem Miroslava Tyrše O tělocvičné soustavě sokolské. 1st ed. Salem: self-published, 1985. 125 p.
• To byl Sokol. München: České Slovo, 1988. 252 p.
• To byl sokol [audiobook]. Praha: Knihovna a tiskárna pro nevidomé K. E. Macana, 1991. 1 zvuková deska (12:20:47).

External links

• Two photographs
• Entry in Sokol encyclopaedia
• Entry in the encyclopaedia KDO BYL KDO v našich dějinách ve 20. století
• One-minute voice recording from 1938