Alexander Dubček (WFAC)

Alexander Dubček (27 November 1921 – 7 November 2006) was a Slovak statesman and politician, leader of the Czechoslovak Social Democratic Party (ČSSD) from 1964 to 1981, prime minister of the Federal Republic of Czechoslovakia from 1969 to 1976 and from 1977 to 1982, and president of Czechoslovakia from 1982 to 1992.

Early life
Alexander Dubček was born in Uhrovec, Czechoslovakia on 27 November 1921. His mother was Pavla Dubčeková (nee Kobidová), while his father was Štefan Dubček, a carpenter who worked for several years in Chicago in the United States, where he had become a convinced pacifist and communist. He was one of the founders of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ). From 1925 to 1933 Dubček and his family lived in the Esperantist and Idist industrial cooperative Interhelpo in Frunze, Kyrgyz SSR of the Soviet Union, in part to help build socialism and in part because jobs were scarce in Czechoslovakia. During this time he learned the trade of machinist. In 1938, the family returned to Czechoslovakia.

During the Second World War, Alexander Dubček joined the underground resistance against the Hungarian occupation of Slovakia. In August 1944 he was wounded while his brother, Július, was killed.

In 1946, he joined the Czechoslovak Social Democratic Party (ČSSD).

Early political career
After the war, he steadily rose through the ranks in the Czechoslovak Social Democratic Party. In 1946 he became a member of the Union of Metalworkers in Czechoslovakia (Svaz kovodělníků v Československé republice, SKČ) and the Czechoslovak Trade Union Association (Odborové sdružení československé, OSČ). From 1955 to 1965 he was the leader of the Union of Metalworkers. In 1961 he was elected to the Federal Assembly, and as a member of parliament he was responsible for labor related issues. He located himself on the left wing of the ČSSD, speaking out for unskilled workers and the jobless, and criticizing the leadership of Parliamentary group leader. Dubček was also outspoken against the Soviet repression of the Hungarian Uprising in 1956.

In 1958 he joined the he was elected Chairman of the Slovak branch of the party. In 1960 he joined the Federal Executive Board of the party and was elected Deputy Chairman. Dubček became the Chairman of the ČSSD in 1965, a post that he retained until 1982. In 1968 he was the ČSSD candidate for the premiership, but he lost to Miloslav Rechcígls conservative Republican Party (RS). However, he was a grand coalition between the RS and ČSSD was formed, with Dubček as Minister of Labour and Social Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister.

Death
Dubček died in Bratislava on 11 March 2006, at the age of 84.