{"id":35750,"date":"2025-06-09T13:24:50","date_gmt":"2025-06-09T12:24:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vtei.cz\/2025\/06\/navzdy-odesel-ladislav-kasparek-2\/"},"modified":"2025-06-09T19:50:48","modified_gmt":"2025-06-09T18:50:48","slug":"ladislav-kasparek-left-us-forever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vtei.cz\/en\/2025\/06\/ladislav-kasparek-left-us-forever\/","title":{"rendered":"Ladislav Ka\u0161p\u00e1rek left us forever"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

It is with great sorrow that we announce that our colleague and friend Ladislav Ka\u0161p\u00e1rek has passed away. It happened unexpectedly \u2013 this loss has affected all of\u00a0us even more, as we saw him in\u00a0good spirits and health in\u00a0the\u00a0middle of\u00a0March, as he enthusiastically presented his new, and ultimately final book at\u00a0a\u00a0two-hour signing session at T. G. Masaryk Water Research Institute.<\/p>\n

He was born on 27th June 1943, in\u00a0\u010c\u00e1slav \u2013 on the\u00a0name day of\u00a0Ladislav, which also determined his first name. However, his friends and colleagues always called him Sl\u00e1vek. He spent his youth in\u00a0\u010c\u00e1slav and the\u00a0surrounding area, in\u00a0the\u00a0region of\u00a0the\u00a0Iron Mountains and the\u00a0rivers Doubrava and Klejn\u00e1rka. His father worked as a\u00a0water management specialist, so he was introduced to this field literally from childhood \u2013 water management plans, literature, and direct contact with experts were a\u00a0part of\u00a0the\u00a0family\u2019s\u00a0daily life. In\u00a0the\u00a01950s, he spent summers with his family at the\u00a0Pa\u0159\u00ed\u017eov reservoir, where his lifelong connection to canoeing was born.<\/p>\n

Despite the\u00a0educational reforms of\u00a0the\u00a01950s, he graduated from secondary school at the\u00a0age of\u00a017 and enrolled at the\u00a0Czech Technical University (CTU) in\u00a0the\u00a0field of\u00a0hydraulic engineering. After his military service, he began working at the\u00a0Directorate of\u00a0Water Management Development (now Water Management Development and Construction, VRV), from where he moved to the\u00a0Hydrometeorological Institute (HMI) in\u00a01968. At the\u00a0time, both institutions were located almost next to each other and complemented each other professionally.<\/p>\n

In\u00a01969, he got married, and shortly afterward, his sons Jan and Pavel were born. At that time, he was starting out in\u00a0the\u00a0field of\u00a0hydrological forecasting. He transformed part of\u00a0his family house in\u00a0Prague-Suchdol into a\u00a0small department of\u00a0what was by then the\u00a0Czech Hydrometeorological Institute (CHMI)\u00a0\u2013 the\u00a0so-called \u2018hydrology laboratory\u2019 \u2013 making him one of\u00a0the\u00a0first pioneers of\u00a0working from home.<\/p>\n

In\u00a01979, he became head of\u00a0the\u00a0Department of\u00a0Regime Information. When the\u00a0CHMI relocated to Komo\u0159any in\u00a0the\u00a0second half of\u00a0the\u00a01980s, Ladislav Ka\u0161p\u00e1rek decided to move to the\u00a0Water Research Institute in\u00a01987 (later T.\u00a0G.\u00a0Masaryk Water Research Institute \u2013 TGM WRI). At TGM WRI, he served as a\u00a0senior research scientist and Vice-Chairman of\u00a0the\u00a0Institute\u2019s\u00a0Council, and held the\u00a0positions of\u00a0head of\u00a0the\u00a0Department of\u00a0Hydrology and head of\u00a0division. He\u00a0spent the\u00a0remainder of\u00a0his professional career at TGM WRI. At the\u00a0same time, he continued to provide methodological oversight in\u00a0the\u00a0field of\u00a0regime hydrology at CHMI.<\/p>\n

He earned the\u00a0scientific degree of\u00a0CSc. in\u00a0the\u00a0field of\u00a0hydrology and water management in\u00a01987 at the\u00a0Czech Technical University.<\/p>\n

Ladislav Ka\u0161p\u00e1rek had vast professional expertise \u2013 from stochastic approaches in\u00a0hydrology to water balance, evaporation, drought, groundwater, and the\u00a0impacts of\u00a0climate change. Among his significant recent work was leading the\u00a0hydrological component of\u00a0the\u00a0project \u201cReassessment of\u00a0Groundwater Resources\u201d. He was not only skilled at designing solutions but also at explaining them clearly and often with a\u00a0smile, even to non-experts. He was a\u00a0popular consultant for students and colleagues at Charles University, the\u00a0Czech University of\u00a0Life Sciences in\u00a0Prague, and other institutions.<\/p>\n

A\u00a0special focus in\u00a0his work was placed on extreme hydrological events, particularly floods. When mapping the\u00a0flood of\u00a01981, he became interested in\u00a0history, especially the\u00a0forgotten flood of\u00a01872, which he later researched in\u00a0detail. This interest culminated in\u00a0his final monograph Historical Floods on Rakovnick\u00fd Stream, which concluded his long-term research on extreme events, especially in\u00a0the\u00a0Rakovn\u00edk region. He always emphasized the\u00a0importance of\u00a0thorough documentation so that these events could be accurately captured in\u00a0statistical analyses and models.<\/p>\n

His last public appearance \u2013 the\u00a0presentation of\u00a0the\u00a0aforementioned book on 18th March 2025 \u2013 was the\u00a0culmination of\u00a0many years of\u00a0work and personal dedication. Although in\u00a0recent years he faced great personal trials, including the\u00a0sudden loss of\u00a0his firstborn son Jan, he remained a\u00a0humble, kind, and wise person who was able to offer advice, encouragement, and lift others\u2019 spirits.<\/p>\n\"\"<\/a>\n\"\"<\/a>\n

With the\u00a0passing of\u00a0Ladislav Ka\u0161p\u00e1rek, we lose not only an outstanding expert but, above all, an extraordinary person who left a\u00a0deep mark on both hydrology and in\u00a0our hearts.<\/span><\/p>\n

Goodbye, Sl\u00e1vek. And thank you.<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Friends and colleagues from TGM WRI and CHMI<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is with great sorrow that we announce that our colleague and friend Ladislav Ka\u0161p\u00e1rek has passed away.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":35529,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,86],"tags":[591,2450,3840,1484,3634],"coauthors":[3811],"class_list":["post-35750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-from-the-world-of-water-management","category-hydraulics-hydrology-and-hydrogeology","tag-chmi","tag-hydrology","tag-necrology","tag-tgm-wri","tag-watermanagement"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtei.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35750","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtei.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtei.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtei.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtei.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35750"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtei.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35750\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35819,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtei.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35750\/revisions\/35819"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtei.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35529"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtei.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtei.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtei.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35750"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtei.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=35750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}