Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs “Gratias Agit 2019 Award” Goes to Assistant Professor Verita Sriratana, PhD, from the Department of English

7 June 2019

On Tuesday 2 April 2019, His Excellency Mr Marek Libřický, Ambassador of the Czech Republic to the Kingdom of Thailand, and Mr Aleš Vytečka, First Secretary and Deputy Head of Mission, presented an announcement letter which confirms that Assistant Professor Verita Sriratana, PhD, lecturer of literary studies at the Department of English, Faculty of Arts, is to receive the “Gratias Agit 2019 Award” from His Excellency Mr Tomáš Petříček, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, at the award ceremony to be held on 14 June 2019 at Czernin Palace in Prague, Czech Republic. The meeting with the Czech Ambassador and Deputy Head of Mission, which took place at the Faculty of Arts Dean’s Office, was attended by Professor Kingkarn Thepkanjana, PhD, Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Associate Professor Prima Mallikamas, Head of the English Department, Assistant Professor Nirada Chitrakara, PhD, Assistant Dean for Internationalisation and Organisational Image Enhancement, and Assistant Professor Verita Sriratana, PhD.

The Gratias Agit Award (formerly “Jan Masaryk Gratias Agit Award”) has been presented by the Minister of Foreign Affairs for the promotion of the good name of the Czech Republic abroad ever since 1997 in appreciation of prominent personalities and organizations developing activities in nongovernmental fields. Along with the increasing role of civic society, this award, too, is becoming an ever more prestigious prize for the voluntary activities of people committed to working for the benefit of the whole society, for the promotion of friendship among nations and for the promotion of the good name of the Czech Republic in the world. At present, it is the only statutory prize awarded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. (https://www.mzv.cz/jnp/en/foreign_relations/public_diplomacy/gratias_agit_award/index.html)

Assistant Professor Verita Sriratana, PhD, the first Thai citizen and the youngest laureate to receive this award, has been nominated in recognition for her contribution to the teaching of and research on Czech culture, history, literature and politics, for her Thai translation of Bohumil Hrabal’s Too Loud a Solitude, for her Thai theatrical adaptation of Jaroslav Hašek’s The Good Soldier Švejk and for her promotion as well as organisation of Czech arts & culture activities in Thailand. She is one among the 16 laureates of the Gratias Agit 2019 Award. Her fellow laureates are affiliated to the following countries: Albania, Austria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Georgia, Germany, Iran, Russia, Switzerland, Ukraine, United States, and Zambia.