Lubomír Štrougal

Lubomír Štrougal
Štrougal in 2012
Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia
In office
28 January 1970 – 12 October 1988
PresidentLudvík Svoboda
Gustáv Husák
Preceded byOldřich Černík
Succeeded byLadislav Adamec
Personal details
Born(1924-10-19)19 October 1924
Veselí nad Lužnicí, Czechoslovakia
Died6 February 2023(2023-02-06) (aged 98)
Political partyCommunist Party of Czechoslovakia
Spouse
Věra Štrougalová
​
​
(m. 1952; div. 1992)​
[1]
Signature

Lubomír Štrougal (19 October 1924 – 6 February 2023) was a Czech politician who was the prime minister of Czechoslovakia from 1970 to 1988.

Biography

Štrougal was born in Veselí nad Lužnicí on 19 October 1924.[2][3] His father, a communist, died in a concentration camp during World War II. Štrougal studied law at Charles University in Prague.[4]

Štrougal joined the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, and in the late 1950s became a member of its Central Committee. Štrougal was agriculture minister between 1959 and 1961, and then interior minister until 1965. In 1968, he became deputy prime minister under Oldřich Černík. At first he rejected the 1968 occupation of Czechoslovakia by Warsaw Pact forces, but later became a prominent figure in Gustáv Husák's regime.[4][5]

Štrougal became the prime minister of Czechoslovakia on 28 January 1970.[6] In the 1980s, he supported perestroika, the reform process initiated by Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev. He resigned as prime minister on 12 October 1988 due to conflicts with Communist Party chairman Miloš Jakeš, a hard-liner. Following the Velvet Revolution of 1989, Štrougal decided to retire from politics; he was ultimately expelled from the party in February 1990.[4][5][6]

The Office for the Documentation and the Investigation of the Crimes of Communism Police of the Czech Republic (UDV) alleged that, in 1965, Štrougal had prevented investigation of crimes conducted by the communist State Security in the late 1940s. Štrougal was acquitted of the charge in July 2002. In 2022, Štrougal was again put on trial, along with former Interior Minister Vratislav Vajnar [cs], for ordering the killing of citizens trying to cross the border into the west. However, experts from the psychiatric hospital where he was being treated said he was suffering from mild dementia and could not comprehend the court proceedings. Regardless, Štrougal claimed that the killings were not his responsibility.[4][7] Štrougal died on 6 February 2023, at the age of 98.[5][8]

References

  1. ^ "Věra Štrougalová: akční děvče, které skončilo v domácnosti | Lidé". Lidovky.cz. 29 December 2011.
  2. ^ Harris M. Lentz (4 February 2014). Heads of States and Governments Since 1945. Routledge. p. 217. ISBN 978-1-134-26490-2.
  3. ^ Blažek, Vojtěch; Gavenda, Jaroslav; Stuchlíková, Lucie (6 January 2023). "Zemřel expremiér Lubomír Štrougal". Seznam Zprávy (in Czech). Retrieved 6 January 2023.
  4. ^ a b c d "Zemřel bývalý komunistický premiér Lubomír Štrougal" [Former communist prime minister Lubomír Štrougal has died]. ČT24 (in Czech). 6 February 2023. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
  5. ^ a b c "Lubomir Strougal, Czechoslovak communist leader, dies at 98". ABC News. The Associated Press. 6 February 2023. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  6. ^ a b "Lubomír Štrougal". Vláda ČR. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
  7. ^ "Pohlavár KSČ Štrougal (97): Je lehce dementní, trestní řízení nechápe, uvedli znalci z Bohnic" [KSČ leader Štrougal (97): He is slightly demented, he does not understand criminal proceedings, experts from Bohnice said]. Blesk (in Czech). 20 July 2022. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
  8. ^ "Zomrel komunistický pohlavár Štrougal (†98): Preslávila ho fáma o mileneckom pomere s Vondráčkovou" (in Slovak). Topky. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
Political offices
Preceded by Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia
1970–1988 		Succeeded by