Emma Smetana (born 11 February 1988 in Prague) is a Czech actress, singer, musician, journalist, news presenter and political scientist. He has dual citizenship, Czech and French. In Czech documents he has the surname "Smetanová", in French documents he is named after his father "Smetana". [4] She has been living in the Czech Republic since 2011, with the exception of the authorities, using an uninflected version of her surname, which she got used to during her life in France, Belgium and Germany. [4][5] Life She grew up in Prague until the age of two, then moved with her mother Monika Pajerová to Paris to live with her father Jiří Smetana, who ran the rock club "Gibus" (hump in Latin). She lived in Paris until she was six years old, and in Strasbourg for the next four years. Studies After returning to Prague, she graduated from the French Lyceum there. After graduation, she enrolled at the "Institut d`études politiques de Paris" (Sciences Po), and for the first two years she studied in the eastern French city of Dijon at one of the branches of Sciences Po, founded in 2001 to study developments in the post-communist states of Central and Eastern Europe, the Balkans and the former Soviet Union. [6] Later, she continued her master`s degree in political science in Paris. She received her second master`s degree in Political Science-European Affairs-International Relations from the Free University of Berlin. "Punks with two dogs and nursing mothers came to lectures with me, it was quite refreshing." [7] She studied political science and international relations at the Free University. [8] He is fluent in French, English and German, speaks Spanish and partly Hebrew. [4] Personal life Her partner is an Israeli of Palestinian-Czech origin, actor and musician Jordan Haj [ˈdʒɔː(r)dn hɑːdʒ]. On December 16, 2016, she gave birth to a daughter, who was named Lennon Marlene Haj Hossein Smetana. [9] Emma Smetana`s first-born daughter has three citizenships – French, Israeli and Czech. On November 15, 2020, she announced via Instagram that she and Jordan Haj were expecting their second child. [10] On April 12, 2021, her second daughter, Ariel Ava Haj Smetana, was born. [11] Media activities During her university studies, she wrote short news about culture for the French left-wing daily Libération. [5] From August 2012, she moderated the morning news on TV Nova,[12] and until 2016 she also hosted the midday or afternoon news. [13] Since March 2017, it has expanded the presenter team of the DVTV internet television on the Aktuálně.cz portal. In addition to Czech, she also conducted interviews in English, French and German. [14][15][16] At the end of 2020, she stopped filming for DVTV due to her own burnout and was replaced by Daniela Písařovicová. [17][18] Political practice From 2008 to 2009, she worked at the Office of the Government of the Czech Republic as an assistant in the media team of the then Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek. After the fall of the ODS government and its replacement by a caretaker cabinet, she moved to the apparatus of the European Parliament in Brussels, where she worked for several months as a political intern of the Czech Social Democratic Party and published in the internal party press of the ČSSD. [19][20] Music and musical He has been playing the piano since the age of six. In 2012, she founded a band bearing her name, in which she sings and plays piano and guitar. [21] In March 2016, she released her debut music album, What I`ve Done, the single "No Fire" also comes from it. [22] A year after the release of this album, she and her accompanying band toured Czech railway stations with the artistic title "Mezi vlaky". For example, it performed on 19 May 2017 at the railway station in Cheb, very successfully at the Main Railway Station in Prague on 2 June 2017, or on 13 October 2017 at the railway station in Olomouc thanks to the financial support of AŽD. [23][24] Emma Smetana sings in English, French, Czech and Hebrew. In October 2013, she was cast in the lead role of the musical drama Lucie, Greater Than a Small Amount of Love, alternating with Bára Poláková. [25] Work Discography What I`ve Done (2016) By Now (2022) – with Jordan Haj Films Europe je t`aime (2008), amateur film Rhythm on the Heels (2009) – Lizetka Men in Hope (2011) – Bára Donšajni (2013) – Barborka, Margaret`s granddaughter Colette (2013) - Hannah The Crown Prince (2015, TV movie) Only Tereza (2021) – presenter TV series Základka (2012) Bez hranic (2013) – Aide Hořící keř (2013) – Hana Čížková Až po uši (2014) Na vodě (2016) – Sandra Eliška a Damián (2023) – Eliška Mlynářová Dvě princezny (2025) – Eliška Mlynářová Divadlo Lucie, větší než malé množství lásky (2013) – Lucie Kauza v TV Nova První pracovní pozice Emmy Smetany v TV Nova byla v rubrice předpovědi počasí. Později přešla do redakce zpravodajství, kde se dostala do dlouhodobých konfliktů s kolegy a nadřízenými. Televizní stanice jí nakonec dala výpověď k 31. květnu 2016. Smetana zažalovala Novu o ušlou mzdu za období po výpovědi a v médiích začala vznášet obvinění vůči svému bývalému zaměstnavateli z neobjektivního zpravodajství, nepřípustného zasahování do novinářské práce, podvodného jednání vůči své osobě a podobně.[26] TV Nova odmítla její tvrzení jako „nepravdivá a scestná“ a její žalobu po dvou letech justičních tahanic definitivně zamítl Nejvyšší soud ČR v září 2018.[27] Criticism of the late Roma singer Věra Bílá In March 2019, she attracted media attention with her sharp criticism of the late Roma singer Věra Bílá. On March 12, 2019, just hours after the death of 64-year-old Bílá, Smetanová posted photos of herself on Instagram with the singer, who picked her up on stage as a 9-year-old girl and let her sing into the microphone. In the accompanying text, she criticized Bílá for her alleged "devastating short-sightedness, stupidity, unreliability and laziness". [28] Smetana justified her condemnation of the most famous Czech Roma artist, who has been giving concerts at home and abroad for four decades, by the fact that her father tried to be the singer`s manager at the time of her greatest fame, but she repeatedly disrespected his leadership and "rejected many offers that cannot be refused." [28][29]