“any revolution reaches a certain stage, it starts devouring its own children.”
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Alexander Dubček
Alexander Dubček was a Slovak statesman who served as the First Secretary of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ) from January 1968 to April 1969 and as Chairman of the Federal Assembly from 1989 to 1992 following the Velvet Revolution. He oversaw significant reforms to the communist system during a period that became known as the Prague Spring, but…
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politics · Leader of Czechoslovakia from 1968 to 1969 · politician · diplomat · mechanical technician · general secretary · also Alexander Dubček, Dubček
Born 27 November 1921 · Died 7 November 1992 · Q150543
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2026· 4 entries
“This time with the European left, I am thinking of the next spring.”
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Radio Prague International: Suspense, una adaptación de Topol y Alexander Dubček, los platos fuertes del cine checo en Karlovy Vary
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Moviefone: Alexander Dubček - vizionár, reformátor a Európan - Where to Watch
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2025· 1 entry
Nature: Alexander Dubcek University of Trencin
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2024· 1 entry
Nature: Alexander Dubcek University of Trencin, Slovakia
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2019· 1 entry
As he would remain for the rest of his life
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2018· 1 entry
Is the first film based on the life of Alexander Dubček
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2000· 1 entry
Awarded Cross of Pribina class I presented by Rudolf Schuster (2000).
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1995· 1 entry
Awarded Ľudovít Štúr Order 1st class presented by Michal Kováč (1995).
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1993· 1 entry
“Hope Dies Last: The Autobiography of Alexander Dubcek”
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1992· 4 entries
Died 1992-11-07.
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Dubček remained an important political figure
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“My problem was not having a crystal ball to foresee the Russian invasion. At no point between January and August 20, in fact, did I believe that it would happen.”
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After long serving as an independent, he became leader of the Social Democratic Party of Slovakia and represented that party in the Federal Assembly
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1991· 1 entry
Awarded honorary doctor of Comenius University (1991).
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1990· 3 entries
Awarded honorary doctor of the University of Madrid Complutense (1990).
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Dubček gave the commencement address to the College of Arts and Sciences at the American University School of International Service in the United States
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It was edited by producers to include translated commentary by Dubček responding to their interview about the events it portrays
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1989· 6 entries
Awarded Sakharov Prize (1989).
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Dubček served as the Chairman of the federal Czechoslovak parliament and contended for the presidency with Václav Havel
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Before the anniversary of the Warsaw Pact invasion, the Slovak members of the Movement for Civil Freedoms (HOS) decided to commemorate the event by laying flowers as the locations of those in Slovakia who had been killed
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Career landmark: member of the Federal Assembly of Czechoslovakia (1989–1992).
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Was awarded the annual Sakharov Prize in its second year of existence
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Just before his death, Andrei Sakharov wrote, "I am convinced that the 'breath of freedom' which the Czechs and the Slovaks enjoyed when Dubček was their leader was a prologue to the peaceful revolutions now taking place
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1988· 2 entries
And the public recognition he gained from both the timing and prestige of an award he shared with Nelson Mandela, marked his return to high politics
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Told Voice of America that, "what he had been through could not be described as 'life' in the normal sense of the word, but rather a matter of survival
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1984· 1 entry
French singer and songwriter Alice Dona released a song called Le Jardinier de Bratislava with lyrics written by Claude Lemesle, as an apolitical song about love and longing for freedom
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1980· 1 entry
Dubček was portrayed by the British actor Julian Glover in Granada Television's Invasion, a dramatisation of the Soviet invasion
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1975· 1 entry
Authorities turned to prosecute his wife, Anna, she presented evidence of the insecure position of the entire family and personal friends denied proper medical care, her sons denied apartments, the armed guards posted at
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1974· 2 entries
For fear it would provoke an anti-government demonstration
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To the widow of Josef Smrkovský, a close political ally who died in official political disgrace that January, Dubček said he remained unable to explain why the Soviet leadership believed "distorted reports" about the nat
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1970· 1 entry
Amid a purge that eventually expelled almost two-thirds of the 1968 party membership
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1968· 2 entries
The clash was less public but just as clear
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Career landmark: First Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (1968–1969).
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1967· 1 entry
Václav Havel's play The Memorandum and Milan Kundera's novel The Joke, were seen by many writers as the beginnings of open rebellion
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1963· 3 entries
And the twentieth anniversary of the Slovak National Uprising Dubček himself had taken part in
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Personally oversaw complete rehabilitation of those earlier convicted of being Slovak "bourgeois nationalists"
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A power struggle in the leadership of the Slovak branch unseated Karol Bacílek and Pavol David, hard-line allies of Antonín Novotný, First Secretary of the KSČ and President of Czechoslovakia
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1955· 2 entries
But returned in 1958 after completing his university education there
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To attend the University of Politics in Moscow, where he graduated in 1958 before he returned home
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1949· 1 entry
Awarded Order of February 25, 1st class (1949).
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1948· 2 entries
The party he had joined was reorganized as the Slovak branch of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ)
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The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia took power
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1942· 1 entry
Štefan and the Dubčeks worked with another former Interhelpo member, primarily organizing communist youth
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1938· 1 entry
Due to general orders by Stalin, the Dubčeks would have had to renounce their Czechoslovak citizenship in order to stay in the Soviet Union
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1933· 1 entry
The family moved to the Central Russian city of Gorky, now Nizhny Novgorod
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1921· 1 entry
Born 1921-11-27.
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