Lubomír Štrougal (born 19 October 1924) is a Czech former politician, who was the prime minister of Czechoslovakia from 1970 to 1988.

Life and career

Štrougal was born in

Veselí nad Lužnicí Veselí nad Lužnicí (; german: Wesseli an der Lainsitz) is a town in Tábor District in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 6,300 inhabitants. It lies at the confluence of the Lužnice and Nežárka rivers. Administra ...

. After compulsory service in German industry during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

(the "total appointment" order for Czech people – german: Totaleinsatz) he finished his law studies at Charles University in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

. He joined 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 ...

, 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. Lubomír Štrougal (1970)

In 1968 he became deputy prime minister under Oldřich Černík. At first he rejected the 1968 occupation of Czechoslovakia by

Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Pact (WP) or Treaty of Warsaw, formally the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, was a collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Poland, between the Soviet Union and seven other Eastern Bloc socialist repub ...

forces, but later became a prominent figure in

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 ...

's regime. Štrougal was Czechoslovakia’s prime minister from 28 January 1970 to 12 October 1988. Štrougal resigned as prime minister due to conflicts with the communist party chairman

Miloš Jakeš Miloš Jakeš (12 August 1922 – 10 July 2020) was a Czech communist politician. He was General Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia from 1987 until 1989. He resigned from his position in late November 1989, amid the Velvet Rev ...

. He criticized the state of the party, the executive and the society. During 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 ...

in 1989, Štrougal was among the candidates to become chair of the Communist Party, but later left the political stage, and in February 1990 he was expelled from the party. The Office for the Documentation and the Investigation of the Crimes of Communism Police of the Czech Republic ( cs, ÚDV) alleged that Štrougal, in 1965, had prevented investigation of crimes conducted by the communist State Security in 1948 and 1949. However, the Prague city court discharged him in 2002 due to lack of evidence. In 2022, Štrougal was again put on trial, along with former Interior Minister Vratislav Vajnar, for ordering the killing of citizens trying to cross the border when he was prime minister. 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. He did, however, claim that the killings were not his responsibility.

References

External links

*
Štrougal’s biography on the website of the Czech Government
{{DEFAULTSORT:Strougal, Lubomir 1924 births Living people People from Veselí nad Lužnicí Members of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia Prime Ministers of Czechoslovakia Government ministers of Czechoslovakia Agriculture ministers Members of the National Assembly of Czechoslovakia (1960–1964) Members of the National Assembly of Czechoslovakia (1964–1968) Members of the Chamber of the People of Czechoslovakia (1969–1971) Members of the Chamber of the People of Czechoslovakia (1971–1976) Members of the Chamber of the People of Czechoslovakia (1976–1981) Members of the Chamber of the People of Czechoslovakia (1981–1986) Members of the Chamber of the People of Czechoslovakia (1986–1990) Communist Party of Czechoslovakia prime ministers Czech communists People of the Velvet Revolution Charles University alumni Czechoslovak World War II forced labourers