Dubcek, Alexander (1921-1992)

Dubcek, Alexander

STATESMAN (CZECHOSLOVAKIA)

BORN 1921, Uhrovec - DIED 7 Nov 1992, Praha
CAUSE OF DEATH car accident (consequences of)
GRAVE LOCATION Bratislava: Slavicie udolie

Alexander Dubzek was born in Uhrovec in Czechoslovakia but he grew up in what is now Kyrgyzstan. During the Second World War he fought against the pro-German Slovak state. He was wounded in August, 1944 and his brother Július was killed.

After the war he joined the Communist Party in Slovakia and from 1951 to 1955 he was a member of the National Assembly of Czechoslovakia. In 1958 he graduated from the political college in Moscow and he became a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia.

In 1963 he effectively gained power in Slovakia. In 1967 he and several other reformers they challenged Antonín Novotný who secretly asked Brezhnev for help. However, Brezhnev forced Novotný to step down and make way for Dubcek.

Dubcek immediately tried to liberalize the Communist Party, a period known as the Prague Spring. But the Soviets didn't accept the reforms and on 20 August 1968 the forces of the Warshaw pact entered Czechoslovakia. Dubcek was arrested and transported to Moscow. After signing an agreement with Moscow he was allowed to return to his post, but in April 1959 he was forced to resign.

He became as a member of the Federal Assembly and from 1969 to 1970 he was ambassador in Turkey. In 1970 he was expelled from the Communist Party and worked in the Forestry Service afterwards. In 1989, after the Velvet Revolution, he was seen with Vaclav Havel on a balcony and loudly applauded. In 1992 he became the leader of the Social Democratic Party of Slovakia but he died later that year in Prague from the consequences of a car accident.

Images

The grave of Alexander Dubcek at the Slavicie Udolie, Bratislava.
Picture by Androom (17 Sep 2004)