Michal David: Difficult childhood, children's home and family wounds. A singer who hasn't lost faith

Michal David, real name Vladimír Štancl, is known as a hitmaker and a constant in the Czech pop scene. But his childhood was far from as carefree as it might seem. At the age of eight, he ended up in a children's home, separated from his family, at a time when Czechoslovakia was experiencing the dramatic events of 1968.

The divorce of his parents meant a major turning point for little Vladimir. His sister went with his father to Switzerland, while he stayed with his mother, who could not fully take care of him due to her workload and difficult life situation. "I didn't see my dad and sister again until I was an adult," he later recalled in his autobiography Living Nonstop. It was in the children's home in Smíchov that he experienced one of the most difficult periods. "I looked out the window at the tanks and waved at them. That's when I thought nothing worse could come."

Michal's mother Edita came from the legendary Kludský circus family. Although the famous circus dynasty disappeared already in the 1930s, her desire to perform remained. She traveled and worked abroad, and Michal grew up in a church school for a while, then with his aunt Dagmar. But at that time, she had a hard time looking for a way to financially handle the care of her own children and nephews. "I lived in a tiny studio apartment and had my hands full with feeding them all," recalled Dagmar Kludská. According to her, little Vláďa looked neglected and sad in the home at the time - "his ear was running and he looked unhappy."

According to some sources, Michal David spent about a month in the children's home, but even that left an impression on him. However, he always believed that his mother would come back for him - and it was this hope that helped him overcome the first big test of life.

However, his troubles did not end there. As an adult, he had to deal with a painful loss – his younger daughter Michaela, who he had with his wife Marcela, succumbed to acute leukemia at the age of ten. "She started to get tired, then everything went really fast. We were told the diagnosis in Motola and everything went downhill from that moment," confided the singer with a difficult period.

Later, he and his wife took care of their grandson Sebastian so that their daughter Klára could finish her studies abroad. "Klára, as a former tennis player, has discipline in her and devoted herself to school and free time with her little one. But at that time, Marcela's wife was the main driver. She deserves admiration for that," David highlighted the role of his wife.

Michal David is an example of a person who, despite early life trials and tragedies, was able to build a successful career and maintain faith in better days.