Ivan Sekanina (31 October 1900 – 21 May 1940) was a Czechoslovak communist politician, lawyer, journalist and resistance fighter.

Biography

Ivan Sekanina was born in to the family of the Moravian teacher and poet František Sekanina. From 1919 to 1923, he studied at the Faculty of Law of

Charles University Charles University (CUNI; , UK; ; ), or historically as the University of Prague (), is the largest university in the Czech Republic. It is one of the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest universities in the world in conti ...

, and at first he was quite close to the Czech National Socialist Party. Later, inspired by his friends, the politician Bohuslav Vrbenský and the poet

Jiří Wolker Jiří Wolker (; 29 March 1900 – 3 January 1924) was a Czech poet. He was also marginally journalist and playwright. Although he lived a short life, he became one of the most important Czech poets. Life Jiří Wolker was born on 29 March 1900 ...

, he leaned towards the left.''Komunistky s fanatismem v srdci''. První. vyd. Praha: Nakladatelství BRÁNA, 2006 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 Com ...

in 1925, offered the party his legal services and became a legal representative of the Communist Party and ''

Rudé právo ''Rudé právo'' ( Czech for ''Red Justice'' or ''The Red Right'') was the official newspaper of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. History and profile ''Rudé právo'' was founded in 1920 when the party was splitting from the social demo ...

''. Sekanina was a close collaborator with other Czech and Slovak Communist activists and intellectuals such as Julius Fučík,

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and

Jan Šverma Jan Šverma (23 March 1901, Mnichovo Hradiště – 10 November 1944, Mt. Chabenec, Low Tatras) was a Czechs, Czech journalist, communist activist and resistance fighter against the Nazi Germany, Nazi-backed Slovak State. Šverma was considered a ...

. 1933, Gertruda Stassiny, whom he married in 1935, began working in his office. From 1938 they ran their office together. He became a prominent defender of accused workers and communists. He was heavily involved in the staged trial of

Georgi Dimitrov Georgi Dimitrov Mihaylov (; ) also known as Georgiy Mihaylovich Dimitrov (; 18 June 1882 – 2 July 1949), was a Bulgarian communist politician who served as General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Bulgarian Communist Party from 1933 t ...

and his comrades, accused in 1933 of setting fire to the Reichstag. He was originally supposed to become the defense attorney for the co-accused chairman of the parliamentary faction

Ernst Torgler Ernst Torgler (25 April 1893 – 19 January 1963) was the last chairman of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) faction in the German Reichstag before he worked for the Nazis. Early life Torgler was born the son of an urban resident in Berlin ...

in the Leipzig trial, but the Reich did not allow it.''Ivan Sekanina (1900–1940). Stručný nástin života a díla právníka, politika a kulturního pracovníka – bojovníka proti fašismu''. Nové Město na Moravě: Horácké muzeum, 2000. In the 1930s, he was a co-founder and functionary of many left-wing and anti-fascist organizations, such as the Society for Economic and Cultural Rapprochement with the USSR, the Left Front, the Union of Friends of the USSR, the Committee for Aid to Democratic Spain, the League for Human Rights, the Šalda Committee, the Socialist Academy and the D 34 theatre. In 1938, he became one of the organizers of the petition action in the Czech Republic for intelligentsia to defend the republic against Hitler's aggression "We will remain faithful". Together with the philosopher and sociologist Josef Fischer, he conceived the definitive text of this patriotic and anti-fascist appeal. Malvazinky hrob Sekanina

He was arrested immediately after the invasion of the Nazis on 16 March 1939. He was first imprisoned in Pankrác, later he was transferred to Berlin, where a political trial was being prepared for him. After the outbreak of World War II, Sekanina was deported to

Sachsenhausen concentration camp Sachsenhausen () or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a German Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used from 1936 until April 1945, shortly before the defeat of Nazi Germany in May later that year. It mainly held political prisoners t ...

, where he died on 21 May 1940, possibly under torture. He converted to the Catholic faith before his death. In 1949, Ivan Sekanina was awarded the

Order of the White Lion The Order of the White Lion () is the highest order of the Czech Republic. It continues a Czechoslovak order of the same name created in 1922 as an award for foreigners (Czechoslovakia having no civilian decoration for its citizens in the 192 ...

in memoriam. Tombstone of the Sekanina family is located at the Malvazinky cemetery in Prague.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sekanina, Ivan 1900 births 1940 deaths Politicians from Nové Město na Moravě Communist Party of Czechoslovakia members Czechoslovak lawyers Czechoslovak journalists Czech anti-fascists Czech communists Czech publishers (people) Resistance members killed by Nazi Germany Czech resistance members Sachsenhausen concentration camp prisoners People who died in Sachsenhausen concentration camp Recipients of the Order of the White Lion Charles University alumni