Pavel Zajíček
Pavel Zajíček (15 April 1951 – 5 March 2024) was a Czech poet and musician, who was a prominent member of the Czech underground scene during the 1970s, associated with the bands DG 307 and the Plastic People of the Universe.
Also recorded as Pavel Zajicek
Pavel Zajíček
Petr Tomaides - tomato22 · můj vlastní soubor / my own file · CC0
- Name
- Pavel Zajíček
- Born
- 15 April 1951
- Birthplace
- Prague, Czechoslovakia
- Died
- 5 March 2024
- Place of death
- Prague, Czech Republic
- Occupation
- Musician, poet
- Nationality
- Czech Republic · Czechoslovakia
- Fields
- underground culture · alternative rock · music · lyrics
- Honours
- participant in the resistance and resistance against communism
- Languages
- Czech · English
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
Pavel Zajíček (15 April 1951 – 5 March 2024) was a Czech poet and musician, who was a prominent member of the Czech underground scene during the 1970s, associated with the bands DG 307 and the Plastic People of the Universe.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Note VALÉORINE
Pavel Zajíček (1951–2024) was an artist, lyricist and musician, among other activities, of Czech and Czechoslovak nationality. The artist was born and died in Prague.
Pavel Zajíček worked in New York City, Prague and Uppsala. Activity centred on alternative rock, lyrics and music.
The work spans rock music. Languages used include Czech and English. Works are held at Czech Samizdat Collection at Libri Prohibiti, Memory of Nations and Scriptum.cz, among others. Honours include participant in the resistance and resistance against communism.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 01 October 2026
VALÉORINE
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Pavel Zajíček. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q12044313 · wikipedia · Pavel Zajíček
In this article
Biography
Biography
The recorded working language is Czech and English. The field of work recorded is underground culture, alternative rock and music. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are rock music. Places of work recorded in the authority are New York City, Prague and Uppsala. Work by Pavel Zajíček is recorded in the collections of Czech Samizdat Collection at Libri Prohibiti, Memory of Nations, Václav Havel Library and Scriptum.cz. Distinctions recorded are participant in the resistance and resistance against communism.
Pavel Zajíček rozveselen
Tomato22
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Pavel Zajíček • Alias — Pavel Z. • Born — 15 April 1951 • Birthplace — Prague, Czechoslovakia • Died — 5 March 2024 • Place of death — Prague, Czech Republic • Genre — Rock • Occupation — Musician, poet • Years Active — 1973–2016 • Label — Guerilla • Current Member Of — DG 307
Biography
Biography
In 1973, Zajíček founded the experimental band DG 307 (named after the code for the psychiatric diagnosis that would exempt young men from compulsory military service) together with bassist Milan Hlavsa. The band was persecuted by the communist regime, turning Zajíček (known as "Pavel Z.") into a prominent figure in the Prague underground during the 1970s. In 1980, he emigrated from Czechoslovakia and lived in Sweden, and later in the United States. After the Velvet Revolution he returned to Czechoslovakia, playing with the reformed DG 307. Zajíček's lyrics were also used in recordings by the Plastic People of the Universe (for example "Apokalyptickej pták" from Egon Bondy's Happy Hearts Club Banned). In 2014 he received the Revolver Revue award. He also starred in the Czech comedy film Buttoners. In 2007 he released a solo album, Kakofonie cesty. His theater piece Pustina (The Waste Land) premiered in 2014, in which he also played a major role. Zajíček died from pneumonia in Prague on 5 March 2024, at the age of 72.
In English translation
In English translation
• Time is a mid-night scream. Fragments from the 1990s (Twisted Spoon, 2005) tr. Marek Tomin • Prchavé domy. Mezi vyhanstvím a vnitřím exilem / Fleeting Homes. Between Banishment and Inner Exile (Palacký University Press, 2010) Anthology, including four poems by P.Z. tr. Matthew Sweney
Books
• DG 307 (1973–1975) (collection of song lyrics for concert performances) • Mařenická kniha ("Maria's Book" 1977, samizdat) • Dopisy (Tok okamžiků) ("Letters. The Flow of Moments" 1977, samizdat) • Vyslov sám sebe i svůj svět ("Expression of Onself and One's World" 1977, samizdat) • Dar stínum (1979) ("Gift to the Shadows" collection of song lyrics for concert performances) • Pták utrženej ze řetězu zdivočel a uletěl… ozvěny jeho falešnejch zpěvů (Kundy rty ústa tváře masky) ("A Bird Freed from its Chain Went Wild and Flew Off... echoes of its feigned songs. C*nts lips mouths faces masks" 1979, collection of song lyrics for concert performances) • Torzo ("Torso" 1980) (collection of song lyrics for concert performances) • Úlomky skal ("Chips from Cliffs" 1979, samizdat) • Šedej sen ("Grey Dream" 1980, samizdat) • Listy k čemukoliv ("Letters to Anyone" 1980, samizdat) • Roztrhanej film ("Torn Film" 1980, samizdat) • Kniha moří ("Book of Seas" 1980, manuscript) • DG307 Texty z let 1973-79 (DG307 Texts 1973-79" 1990, Vokno) • Kniha měst ("Book of Cities" 1993, Vokno) • Čas je výkřik uprostřed noci ("Time is a Scream in the Middle of the Night" 2000, Maťa) • Zvuky sirén a zvonů (NÉNIE) ("Sounds of Sirens and Bells" 2001, Vetus Via) • Zápisky z podzemí (1973-1980) ("Notes from Underground 1973-1980" 2002, Torst; contains: Mařenická kniha, Dopisy (Tok okamžiků), Vyslov sám sebe i svůj svět, Úlomky skal, Roztrhanej film, Šedej sen, Listy k čemukoliv) • Jakoby… Svět v zrnku písku… ("As if... The World in a Grain of Sand" 2003, Torst) • Cesta vlakem z P. do B. Pollockovy fleky odposlouchaná slova ("Train Trip from P. to B. / Pollock's Splotches / Words Overheard" 2007, Vetus Via) • Roztrhanej film ("Torn Film" 2008, Pulchra) • Kniha psaná chaosem ("Book Written in Chaos" 2009, Pulchra) • Pohádka se špatným koncem ("Fairy Tale with an Unhappy Ending" 2010, Vetus Via) • Všechno je úplně jinak… ("Everything is Completely Different" 2010, Pulchra) • Kniha moří ("Book of Seas" 2011, Pulchra) • Chvění ("Trembling" 2012, Maťa)
Discography
• Gift to the shadows (fragment) (1982 Boží mlýn, Canada, LP) • DG 307 (1973-5) (1990, Globus, CD) • Dar stínum (autumn 1979) ("Gift to the Shadows" 1992, Globus, CD) • Pták utrženej ze řetězu (autumn 1979) ("The Bird that Broke Free from its Chain" 1992, Globus, CD) • Torzo (summer 1980) ("Torso" 1992, Globus, CD) • Uměle ochuceno (Artificially flavored) (1992, Újezd MC, CD, LP; rerelease 2001, Guerilla Records, CD) • Koncert: Tvář jako Botticelliho Anděl ("Concert: A Face like Botticelli's Angel" 1995, self-issued, audio cassette only) • Kniha psaná chaosem ("Book Written in Chaos" 1996, Globus CD) • Siluety ("Silhouettes" 1998, self-issued CD; rerelease 2001, Guerilla Records, CD) • Koncert (1999, Indies CD, cassette) • Pavel Zajíček: Zvuky sirén a zvonů (NÉNIE) ("Sounds of Sirens and Bells" Reading / Evangelical Church of the Savior, 5 June 2001, Prague) (2001, CD) • Šepoty a výkřiky ("Cries and Whispers" 2002, Guerilla Records, CD) • Historie hysterie (Archiv dochovaných nahrávek 1973-75 "A History of Hysteria: Archival Recordings 1973-75") 2CD: • CD 1 – (71:10 mins) 7 October 1973, Klukovice, 2 June 1974, ateliér Kadlec, Prague-Žižkov, 1 September 1974, Postupice, '31 January 1975, Mokropsy • CD 2 – (44:56 mins) November 1975, Houska Castle + photos: Postupice (5:51 mins), Kostelec u Křížku (9:51 mins), (2004, Guerilla Records) • Nosferatu (Symfonie hrůzy na motívy filmu F. W. Murnau) ("Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror, new soundtrack to F.W. Murnau's film" 2004, Guerilla Records CD) • DG 307 – LIVE (17 April 2005) (2005, Guerilla Records CD) • Pavel Zajíček: Kakofonie cesty ("Cacophonies of the Road" 2007, Guerilla records, CD) • Květy podzimu – barvy jara /live at La Fabrika ("Autumn Flowers – Spring Colors" 2008, La Fabrika, CD) • Magický město vyhořelo! (koncert v klubu Jilská 15/10/1994) ("Magic City Burnt Down! Concert in Jilská Club 15 November 1994" 2008, Guerilla Records, CD) • Veřejná zkouška 07032009/Public rehearsal Praha – New York (2009, Ears&Wind Records, CD-R in a tin) • Prolínání ("Penetration": P.Z. + Monika Načeva, live fragment, DG 307, 21 April 2010, Retro Music Hall, Prague) (2010, dinn (dinn is not noise), LP) • V katedrálách ticha (koncert z roku 1994) ("In Cathedrals of Silence: concert from 1994" 2011, Guerilla Records, CD) • Pavel Zajíček: Podobenství ("A Parable" 2011, Guerilla Records, CD) • Životy? Nebo bludné kruhy? ("Lives? Or Vicious Circles?" 2013, Guerilla Records, CD) • Svědek spálenýho času (Witness to Burnt Time) (1979–80) 5CD: • CD 1 – Dar stínum (Gift to the Shadows) – studio (15 songs, running time 79:28) • CD 2 – Dar stínum (Gift to the Shadows) – live (16 songs, running time 79:54) • CD 3 – Pták utrženej ze řetězu (The Bird that Broke Free from its Chain) – studio (17 songs, running time 79:01) • CD 4 – Pták utrženej ze řetězu (The Bird that Broke Free from its Chain) – live (21 songs, running time 78:31) • CD 5 – Torzo (Torso) (16 songs, running time 43:35, 3 bonus tracks) • Book – Svědek spálenýho času (Witness to Burnt Time) (104 pages, 40 photos – text P. Ferenc, photos A. Libánský, J. Hric, J. Kukal, O. Němec, P. Prokeš, 2013, Guerilla Records) • Svobodná místa ("Free Places" 2019, concert from 2011, Guerilla Records, CD)*Kakofonie cesty (2007) • Podobenství ("A Parable" 2011)
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Pavel Zajíček”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q12044313: Pavel Zajíček
General reference · Wikidata
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Bezr, Ondřej. Cenu Revolver Revue dostane básník a hudebník Pavel Zajíček. iDNES.cz. 3 June 2014.
- 2.Cenu Revolver Revue dostane Pavel Zajíček. Novinky.cz. 27 May 2014.
- 3.Pavel Zajíček je všechno, co tvrdí, že není. ceskatelevize.cz. 6 June 2014.
- 4.Bezr, Ondřej. Charismatický Zajíček nemá jen Dg 307. iDNES.cz. 23 March 2007.
- 5.Macháček, Martin. Tyjátr: Pustina ve Studiu Hrdinů je krvavá krajina plná božských témat. Český rozhlas. 20 October 2014.
- 6.Pavel Zajíček: Pustina na pomezí filmu, koncertu a divadla. Full Moon. 1 November 2014.
- 7.Novinky.cz. Zemřel básník Pavel Zajíček. 5 March 2024.
- 8.Radio Prague International. Major Czech underground figure Pavel Zajíček dies at 72. 6 March 2024.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessauthority record
General reference
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 18 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Paintings
19,397 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Pavel SokolovArtist
- Pavel SvedomskyArtist
- Pavel SvinyinArtist
- Pavel TchelitchewArtist
- Pavel ZhagunArtist
- Pavle ČortanovićArtist
- Pavle SimićArtist
- Pavle VasićArtist
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by Pavel Zajíček?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.