Mother from Gurun: As a fourteen-year-old she was raped, her husband abused her, she fell into alcoholism, she lost her children

Do you remember the Mother from Gurun who had supernatural abilities, could walk on water or on the ceiling or could fly? In the role of a small alien in a Czechoslovak sci-fi series She fell from the clouds beamed Zuzana Pravňanská (now 55 years old), whose life story full of ups and downs could have been published in a novel. She could not cope with popularity, her husband abused her, she lost her children, fell into alcoholism and lived on the fringes of society for many years. But in the end, she was able to bounce back from the bottom…

Zuzana Pravňanská was born on August 14, 1968 in Bratislava. As a child, she had many interests, studied well and was one of the exemplary pupils at primary school. Her parents led her to sports and music, so Zuzana was involved in gymnastics and swimming, and also played the piano. She made her debut in front of the camera when she was five years old, when she appeared in a commercial. That’s when director Martin Hollý Jr. noticed the clever girl. and cast her in one of the roles in his family adventure film The wreck of the Danube (1976).

The turning point in her life came when the filmmakers at her school chose her for a role in the iconic TV series She fell from the clouds, which was filmed in 1978-1980. After the film was shown on television, the story about a small alien from the planet Gurun became a hit and at one time it was loved by thousands of children not only in Czechoslovakia, but also in other countries where the series ran. Zuzana was suddenly a star of the first magnitude.

Zuzana was excited about the famous success, she enjoyed immense popularity, but she could not cope with fame and huge success. As she herself later admitted, just after the end of filming the series She fell from the clouds she began to have the first serious problems with managing everyday life. It suddenly seemed boring and completely “ordinary” to Zuzana compared to filming. She didn’t really want to go to school, and the former class winner stopped enjoying learning.

Zuzana believed that other interesting film offers would come and she would become a famous actress. But this did not lead to her disillusionment at all. Although she still starred in the series The Eleventh Commandment (1977) and in the movies A table for fourteen (1978) and Boys and girls (1979), but then the filmmakers lost interest in “Majka”, who had grown up in the meantime. Zuzana thus met the same fate as many other child movie stars.

It was a big disappointment for the teenage Zuzana, who had dreamed of her life quite differently. She started “hanging out” around the city, didn’t even finish business school and didn’t even finish her studies at an engineering industrial school. She stopped getting along with her parents, she had the feeling that her father was constantly forcing her to do something and she was doing things on his behalf. In addition, she went through a very traumatic experience when she was raped by her friend when she was only fourteen years old.

Zuzana felt that everything was wrong, but then she fell in love and imagined how she would have a husband, children and a happy family life. She married her “prince on a white horse” at just eighteen years old and soon after found out she was expecting a child. She moved into her husband’s apartment, where his parents and brother also lived with them.

After the wedding, her husband turned out to be a brute and a rapist who did not hesitate to put his hand on his pregnant wife. Mental and physical violence was the order of the day. Zuzana had to endure insults, beatings and rape. From their marriage, three children were born shortly after each other, the first-born daughter Zuzana, the second Klaudia and the youngest son Štefan.

Zuzana stayed with her psychopathic husband for years. She was afraid to leave him, she didn’t believe she could support her children on her own, and she was afraid he would take revenge on her or the children. She left the tyrant only when her husband beat her during one of the many arguments, so that she had to seek medical treatment in the hospital. There she signed the reverse and returned home to her parents with the children and slowly began to put her life in order.

Štefka was six weeks old when my ex-husband beat me. I left the hospital on a reverse. But I didn’t want to go back to him.

According to Zuzana, only a few days had passed since her departure when her husband asked her that he wanted to take his eldest daughter with him for the weekend. She complied, but he did not “return” her to Zuzana. Later, he also took his younger daughter Klaudia away when she was in the hospital. Both daughters eventually ended up in a children’s home. It turned out that Zuzana’s and Klaudia’s daughters were entrusted to the care of his parents by Zuzana’s husband, but his mother died after a year and his father was unable to take care of his granddaughters adequately.

The daughters were not entrusted to the care of the mother. Zuzana said that when she wanted to take them back to her, the home’s teachers refused her, saying that the girls would be better off in institutional care. Zuzana was left alone with only her son, and the sadness and depression from the loss of her daughters was drowned in alcohol. It is said that at that time she had definitely given up the fight for her daughters, she was completely at the bottom mentally, no one helped her, so she decided to put everything related to it out of her head and move on.

For the sake of completeness, it should be mentioned that her daughter Klaudia, who is now an adult, remembered this time differently. In an interview, she said: “I was in an institution from the age of six to eleven. She never once came to see me. I am ashamed of her, ashamed of being her daughter.’ Her words were indirectly confirmed by Štefan, the youngest of the three siblings, who confided that his mother always left him alone at home, began to fet and ended up in an educational institution, where, according to him, he felt at ease.

Klaudia, who grew up in an adoptive family from the age of 11, even took her mother to court for non-payment of alimony a few years ago. She said that her mother had not contributed a penny in her life and sued her. Klaudia went on to say that she is grateful to have been able to live with her adoptive parents, who helped her learn what a “normal” life is. She also previously stated that she is willing to reconcile with her mother on the condition that her mother tells her the whole truth.

After some time, luck in love smiled on Zuzana again, when she fell in love with Arpád, her twenty-year-older neighbor, who, among other things, helped her break free from alcohol addiction. She moved in with him and lived with him for eleven years. However, her boyfriend died unexpectedly of a heart attack and the apartment was inherited by his family. So Zuzana found herself in a hostel and fell into alcoholism again.

For example, she made a living as a supermarket clerk, barmaid or maid, but she never lasted long in any job, so she at least went to part-time jobs. When her children grew up, she tried to find her way back to them. She bitterly regretted the way she had treated them and begged their forgiveness.

Although it seemed for a long time that Zuzana Pravňanská alias Majka z Gurun could no longer stand on her own two feet again, the opposite is true. She bounced back from the bottom and today lives a happy life in her native Bratislava. Thanks to her new partner, who was a great support for her in difficult times, she was able to put an end to alcohol and find a job. On his recommendation, Zuzana completed the course and is a tram driver, which she wanted to drive since she was a child. Zuzana Pravňanská is a happy grandmother of three grandchildren and does not care too much for media attention.