Vladimír Vonka

Vonka was born on 31 July 1930 in Prague, Czechoslovakia. In 1947, he graduated from the Vančura Grammar School in Prague-Smíchov. He then graduated from the Faculty of Medicine of Charles University.^[1]

Together with gynaecologist Jiří Kaňka in the 1970s and 1980s, he led a study that contributed to the identification of the viral causative agent of cervical cancer, which then enabled the development of the appropriate vaccine.^[2]

He was one of the founding members of the Learned Society of the Czech Republic, established in 1994.^[3] In 2005, he received the Medal of Merit in the field of science from President Václav Klaus.^[4]  He was also a member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts.^[5]

Vonka died on 20 June 2025, at the age of 94.^[3]