Mojmír Povolný was born in Měnín, a Moravian village in what is now the Czech Republic, on November 25, 1921. He spent five years in elementary school, before going to a gymnasium, or prep school, for eight years. When Povolný finished gymnasium and was of age to attend University, the country was occupied by Nazi Germany and universities had been closed by the Germans. He worked in a factory until after the conflict, when he then went to University. Povolný took part in the Beneš Party's democratic youth movement during his college studies. In 1947, he earned a Juris Doctorate degree in 2½ years from Masaryk University School of Law in Brno, Czechoslovakia. Shortly after graduation, he served as the executive secretary of its Economic Council in Prague for about one year. From 1974 to 1993, Povolný was the President of the . In 1948, shortly after the Communist coup d'état in April, Povolný fled to Paris.