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Pavel Landovský was a Czech actor, playwriter and signatory of Charter 77. After an unsuccessful period at the Academy of Mechanical Engineering, he decided to devote himself to the theatre. At first, he worked in the district theatres in Šumperk, Klatovy and Pardubice. Later, from 1965–1976, he became one of the leading figures of the Prague Drama Club (Činoherní klub). He wanted to study drama at the Theatre Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (DAMU), however, he was never admitted. The end of his official acting career in pre-1989 Czechoslovakia is linked to his critical approach to the regime. Landovský’s critical attitude was confirmed by his signature of Charter 77. Under pressure from the police authorities, and after several short-term prison sentences, he decided to emigrate from Czechoslovakia to neighbouring Austria in 1978. He successfully performed there as an actor. From 1982–1996 he was engaged at the Vienna Burgtheater. He returned to the Czech Republic in the mid-1990s.

Pavel Landovský was also involved in the literary side of the theatre, writing several plays. When he was still allowed to officially act, the plays Hodinový hoteliér (1969) and Případ pro venkovského policajta (1972) were performed. During “Normalization”, he produced several radio plays under the names of other authors (e. g. Karel Steigerwald). His plays were also published in samizdat volumes. Typical features of Landovský’s work are farces emerging from trivial, everyday situations, his distinctive language and slightly vulgar humour.

Jonas Lankutis, a researcher of Lithuanian literature and critic, graduated from Vilnius University in 1953, and in 1956 he started to work at the Institute of Lithuanian Language and Literature. In 1984, Lankutis was appointed director of the institute. (He was director until 1992.) He is the author of a book about the work of Vincas Mykolaitis-Putinas. (First published in 1961, the third edition came out in 1986.) During the writing process, he often communicated with Mykolaitis-Putinas. In 1979, Lankutis presented his correspondence with Mykolaitis-Putinas to the Manuscript Section of the library of the Institute of Lithuanian Language and Literature.

Leonhard Lapin is an Estonian architect, artist and poet. He graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts as an architect in 1971. He was active in the avant-garde from the 1960s. Since the avant-garde was prohibited during the Soviet period, he could not find work as an architect, nor exhibit his artwork officially. He and like-minded artists organised semi-legal or illegal exhibitions. He was also active in the 1970s, editing manuscript magazines and creating texts and illustrations. Some of his work was shown outside the Soviet Union in Western countries in the 1970s, and it was highly praised. Since 1990, he has been a teacher at the Academy of Fine Arts, and since 1995 he has been a professor.