Milena Šimsová and her husband Jan Šimsa were representatives of the Protestant dissent in Brno. She was born on 5 October 1932 in Turčiansky Svätý Martin in Slovakia, but later moved to Brno. She graduated at Brno´s Faculty of Arts in 1956. Twelve years later, she also completed her doctoral studies there. Šimsová published several books, including a book about her father-in-law, a prominent representative of the Nazi resistance movement Jaroslav Šimsa: Svět Jana Šimsy a Úzkost a naděje: Dopisy sny, události let 1940–1945 (together with Jan Šimsa). At the time of normalisation, she cooperated with her husband in dissent activities, and also attended underground university lectures in Božena Komárková´s flat. In 2006 she was awarded the Prix Irene.
