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Chateau Dobřís: the centre of Latin American Leftist intellectuals behind the Iron Curtain

ABSTRACT This article relates the intriguing story of Chateau Dobříš, a meeting place in Czechoslovakia for Latin American intellectuals during the late 1940s and 1950s. Based primarily on the contemporary testimonies of selected authors and their memoirs, the study describes this little-known chapter in cultural relations between Latin America and eastern Europe. At that time, Chateau Dobříš, which was administered by the Union of Czechoslovak Writers, played a significant role in the cultural scene of Latin America. It was here that Jorge Amado, Pablo Neruda, Nicolás Guillén, and other luminaries came into contact with one another and started friendships with their European colleagues. At the same time, the chateau became a place in which some of Latin America’s luminaries met for the very first time, because the political situation in their own countries made it impossible to do so otherwise. The experience at Chateau Dobříš was therefore an important phase for Latin American writers. By analyzing this phenomenon, this article aims to contribute to the investigation of “New Cold War History” and our understanding of the Communist cultural politics during the era.