We deeply regret to announce that dr. Smýkal unexpectedly passed away on December 28th, 2017 in his age of 91 years. Please dedicate a quite moment of remembrance of him.

During his rich professional life, dr. Smýkal contributed among others to establish:

• an audio book for the blind in Czechoslovakia (1960)
• the first special typhlopedical information centre for parents of blind and seriously visually handicapped small children in Czechoslovakia (1977)
• a kindergarten for blind children in Brno (1978)
• the Braille journal Brněnský občasník (1990); publishing ended in 2007
• The Museum for the Blind in Brno (1992)