ABSTRACT
In late 1960s, having finished my undergraduate studies in chemistry, I continued my formation as a Ph.D. student of Jaroslav Churácek, who introduced me into the fascinating field of chromatography in his undergraduate lectures, by then the first course on analytical separation in the former Czechoslovakia. He and his small group were practicing planar chromatography and gas chromatography, and Jaroslav suggested I try doing something in the emerging new field of high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). First I spent some time developing instrumentation, making possible liquid chromatographic separations on columns packed with relatively coarse silica gel particles. Since then my research has been connected to liquid chromatography. In 1973 I finished my Ph.D. thesis on the effects of working conditions on LC separations and I joined the permanent staff at the Department of Analytical Chemistry of the Institute of Chemical Technology in Pardubice (now the Faculty of Chemical Technology of the University of Pardubice), and I continued my cooperation with Jaroslav, who always showed deep interest in my work and encouraged my efforts and became a good friend.
