Jump to content

Antonín Janoušek

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Antonín Janoušek
Chairman of the Revolutionary Committee of the Slovak Soviet Republic
In office
20 June 1919 – 7 July 1919
Preceded byPost established
Succeeded byPost abolished
Personal details
Born(1877-08-22)22 August 1877
Nymburk, Kingdom of Bohemia,  Austria-Hungary
Died30 March 1941(1941-03-30) (aged 63)
Moscow, Russian SFSR,  Soviet Union
Resting placeOlšany Cemetery
NationalityCzechoslovakia
Political partyHungarian Communist Party
Czechoslovak Communist Party

Antonín Janoušek (22 August 1877 – 30 March 1941) was a Czech journalist and communist who was the leader of the short-lived Slovak Soviet Republic.

Life and career

[edit]

Originally an engine fitter, in 1895, Janoušek became a member of the Czechoslavonic Social Democratic Workers' Party. In 1906, he became a workers journalists and a functionary of workers associations in Austria-Hungary.

Communist activities

[edit]

In 1919, Janoušek led the Czech and Slovak section at the central committee of the Hungarian Communist Party. He was the only “chairman of the revolutionary committee” (predseda revolučného výboru) of the short-lived Slovak Soviet Republic, proclaimed in Prešov on 20 June 1919. The republic was created with military support from the Hungarian Soviet Republic. After the Hungarians were pushed out by troops of the First Czechoslovak Republic following the Hungarian–Czechoslovak War of 1918–1919, the Slovak Soviet Republic ceased to exist on 7 July 1919.

Later life

[edit]
Memorial plaque of Janoušek in Kladno in Unhošťská street, by Ladislav Novák
Olšany Cemetery, grave of Czech Communist politicians whose urns had originally been kept at the National Monument at Vítkov

Janoušek was imprisoned by the regime of Miklós Horthy in Hungary in 1920, and subsequently handed over to Czechoslovak authorities. In 1922, he moved to Soviet Russia, where he became a functionary of the International Workers Aid Council. He lived in Cheboksary, Chuvashia where he established an orphanage.

Janoušek died "in bed" of natural causes as reported by the historian V. Nálevka.[1] After cremation, his remains were buried at the Jan Žižka National Monument at Vítkov. In 1990, his ashes were moved to Olšany Cemetery, together with those of about 20 other communist leaders which had also originally been placed in the Jan Žižka National Monument.[2]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Arnošt Kolman: Memories (abridged) Archived 2021-03-05 at the Wayback Machine, p. 2
  2. ^ "Radio Prague: Exhibition at Vitkov Memorial highlights the Klement Gottwald personality cult". 8 March 2012. Retrieved 19 September 2012.