The Communist Party of Slovakia ( sk, Komunistická strana Slovenska, KSS) was a

communist party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ...

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

. It was formed in May 1939, when the Slovak Republic was created, as the Slovak branches of the

Communist Party of Czechoslovakia The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia ( Czech and Slovak: ''Komunistická strana Československa'', KSČ) was a communist and Marxist–Leninist political party in Czechoslovakia that existed between 1921 and 1992. It was a member of the Comint ...

(KSČ) were separated from the mother party. When Czechoslovakia was again established as a unified state, the KSS was still a separate party for a while (1945–1948). On 29 September 1948, it was reunited with the KSČ and continued to exist as an "''organizational territorial unit of the KSČ on the territory of Slovakia''". Its main organ (and thus the main newspaper in Slovakia at the time) was ''

Pravda ''Pravda'' ( rus, Правда, p=ˈpravdə, a=Ru-правда.ogg, "Truth") is a Russian broadsheet newspaper, and was the official newspaper of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, when it was one of the most influential papers in the ...

''. After the merger KSS functioned as a regional affiliate of the KSČ, not as an independent political institution. Therefore, the organizational structure of the KSS mirrored that of the KSČ: the KSS Congress held session for several days every five years (and just before the KSČ's Congress), selecting its Central Committee members and candidate members, who in turn selected a

Presidium A presidium or praesidium is a council of executive officers in some political assemblies that collectively administers its business, either alongside an individual president or in place of one. Communist states In Communist states the presid ...

, a

Secretariat Secretariat may refer to: * Secretariat (administrative office) * Secretariat (horse) Secretariat (March 30, 1970 – October 4, 1989), also known as Big Red, was a champion American thoroughbred racehorse who is the ninth winner of the Ame ...

, and a First Secretary (i.e. party leader). The most important first secretaries were

Alexander Dubček Alexander Dubček (; 27 November 1921 – 7 November 1992) was a Slovak politician who served as the First Secretary of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ) (''de facto'' leader of Czechoslovak ...

(1963–1968) and

Jozef Lenárt Jozef Lenárt (3 April 1923 – 11 February 2004) was a Slovak politician who was the prime minister of Czechoslovakia from 1963 to 1968. Life and career Born in Liptovská Porúbka, Slovakia, he graduated from a chemistry high school and worke ...

(1970–1988). Following the March 1986 party congress, the KSS Presidium consisted of 11 members; the Secretariat included, in addition to Lenárt, three secretaries and two members; and the Central Committee comprised 95 full members and 36 candidate members. The KSS in 1986 also had its own Central Control and Auditing Commission, four other commissions, twelve party departments, and one training facility. KSS ceased to exist in 1990 (following the

Velvet Revolution The Velvet Revolution ( cs, Sametová revoluce) or Gentle Revolution ( sk, Nežná revolúcia) was a non-violent transition of power in what was then Czechoslovakia, occurring from 17 November to 28 November 1989. Popular demonstrations agains ...

), when it was transformed into the independent social-democratic party called the Party of Democratic Left (SDĽ). Most of that party, in turn, is now part of

Direction – Social Democracy Direction may refer to: *Relative direction, for instance left, right, forward, backwards, up, and down ** Anatomical terms of location for those used in anatomy ** List of ship directions *Cardinal direction Mathematics and science *Directio ...

, which had separated from the SDĽ in 2000. A new

Communist Party of Slovakia The Communist Party of Slovakia ( sk, Komunistická strana Slovenska, KSS) is a communist party in Slovakia, formed in 1992, through the merger of the Communist Party of Slovakia – 91 and the Communist League of Slovakia. The party is observer ...

was, however, founded in 1992 from a merger of the

Communist Party of Slovakia – 91 Communist Party of Slovakia (in Slovak: ''Komunistická strana Slovenska – 91'', KSS '91) was a communist party in Slovakia from 1991 to 1992. KSS '91 was formed by orthodox elements of the original Communist Party of Slovakia (KSS), which opp ...

and Communist League of Slovakia.

Leaders

Party leaders (1944–1990)

*1944–1945:

Karol Šmidke Karol Šmidke (January 21, 1897, Vítkovice (Ostrava), Austria-Hungary – December 15, 1952, Czechoslovakia) was a Slovak Communist politician, member of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. Smidke was Co- President of the Presidium of the Slo ...

*1945–1951:

Štefan Bašťovanský Štefan is a Slavic given name and surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name * Štefan Babjak (1931–2008), Slovak classical baritone opera singer * Štefan Banič (1870–1941), Slovak inventor who patented an early parachute de ...

*1951–1953:

Viliam Široký Viliam Široký (31 May 1902 – 6 October 1971) was a prominent Communist politician of Czechoslovakia, the prime minister from 1953 to 1963. He also served as the leader of the Communist Party of Slovakia between 1945 and 1954. Biography ...

*1953–1963:

Karol Bacílek Karol Bacílek (12 October 1896, Choťánky – 19 March 1974, Bratislava) was a Czechoslovak communist politician, activist and high-ranking state and Communist Party official during the leadership of Klement Gottwald. Biography Bacílek ...

*1963–1968:

*1968:

Vasiľ Biľak RSDr. Vasiľ Biľak (11 August 1917 – 6 February 2014) was a Slovak Communist politician and leader of Rusyn origin. Vasiľ Biľak was born in Krajná Bystrá ( hu, Bátorhegy), in the Sáros County of the Kingdom of Hungary (present-day Slova ...

*1968–1969:

Gustáv Husák Gustáv Husák (, , ; 10 January 1913 – 18 November 1991) was a Czechoslovak communist politician of Slovak origin, who served as the long-time First Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia from 1969 to 1987 and the president o ...

*1969–1970:

Štefan Sádovský Štefan Sádovský (13 October 1928 – 17 June 1984) was the prime minister of the Slovak Socialist Republic from 2 January 1969 to 5 May 1969. See also *Prime Minister of Slovakia The prime minister of Slovakia, officially the Chairman of t ...

*1970–1988:

*1988–1990: Ignác Janák

Prime Ministers A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is no ...
of the
Slovak Socialist Republic The Slovak Socialist Republic ( sk, Slovenská socialistická republika, SSR) was from 1969 to 1990 a republic within the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, when previously unitary Czechoslovak state changed into a federation. The name was used fr ...
(1969–1990)

*1969:

*1969–1988:

Peter Colotka Peter Colotka (10 January 1925–20 April 2019) was a Slovak academic, lawyer and politician. He was the Prime Minister of the Slovak Socialist Republic from 1969 to 1988. Early life and education Colotka was born in Sedliacka Dubová, Dolný K ...

*1988–1989:

Ivan Knotek Ivan Knotek (26 August 1936–11 March 2020) was a Slovak politician who served as Politburo member and prime minister from 1988 to 1989 of the Slovak Socialist Republic. Biography Knotek was born in Senica on 26 August 1936. He was a member o ...

*1989: Pavol Hrivnák *1989–1990:

Milan Čič Milan Čič (2 January 1932 – 9 November 2012) was a Slovak lawyer and politician who served as the prime minister of the Slovak Socialist Republic from 1989 to 1990. Čič entered politics in 1961 as a member of the Communist Party of Czechos ...