Josef Skála (born 27 May 1952) is a Czech communist politician, journalist, and university lecturer. He served as vice-chairman of the

Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia The Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (, KSČM) is a communist party in the Czech Republic. As of 2022, KSČM has a membership of 20,450. Sources variously describe the party as either left-wing or Far-left politics, far-left on the polit ...

from 2009 to 2010 and from 2016 to 2018. Since 2018, he has been a signatory of the left-wing Restart platform. Since October 2021, he is one of the leaders of the Kudy z krize ("Where to go from the crisis") platform. He was also a prospective candidate for the

in the

2023 Czech presidential election Presidential elections were held in the Czech Republic in January 2023, resulting in the election of Petr Pavel. Incumbent president Miloš Zeman was not eligible to run due to the two-term limit. The first round took place on 13 and 14 Januar ...

, but withdrew as he failed to gather enough signatures.

Life

Josef Skála joined the Communist Party at the age of 18. He studied journalism at

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 ...

in Prague, graduating in 1975. In his memoirs from the 1970s, he wrote that "I welcomed the international aid of the

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and other

socialist countries A socialist state, socialist republic, or socialist country is a sovereign state constitutionally dedicated to the establishment of socialism. This article is about states that refer to themselves as socialist states, and not specifically ab ...

in August 1968 with enthusiasm and relief. I welcomed the

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

troops at dawn on August 21 at the

Ruzyně Airport Ruzyně is a district of Prague city, part of Prague 6. It has been a part of Prague since 1960. Václav Havel Airport is located in this district. Czech Airlines has its head office on the grounds of the airport. Travel Service Airlines Smart ...

... I tried to help the Soviet soldiers even in seemingly insignificant matters of their daily life here. Soon after the entry of the troops, immediately after the parents managed to establish contact, I started working as a writer of articles, reports and notes for the Vltava radio station." In 1978, he worked as an employee of the city committee 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 Com ...

in Prague (MV KSČ Prague). In 1980, he defended his candidate's dissertation "Social Consciousness and Contemporary Ideological Struggle" at the University of Political Affairs of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (Department of

Marxism–Leninism Marxism–Leninism () is a communist ideology that became the largest faction of the History of communism, communist movement in the world in the years following the October Revolution. It was the predominant ideology of most communist gov ...

). His supervisor was the

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

philosopher . He then lectured on philosophy at Charles University and held senior positions in the Socialist Youth Union. In 1986, at a meeting of the Central Committee of the SSM, he was elected to the position of permanent representative of the Czechoslovak Headquarters of SSM undergraduates in the

International Union of Students The International Union of Students (IUS) was a worldwide nonpartisan association of university student organizations. The IUS was the umbrella organization for 155 such students' organizations across 112 countries and Territory (administrative ...

, replacing

Miroslav Štěpán Miroslav Štěpán (5 August 1945 – 23 March 2014) was a Czechoslovak politician. He was a member of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. He was the Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee in Prague and member of the Central Committee ...

. He held the position until the dissolution of the SSM in 1990. Under he was a member of the presidency of the Central Committee of the SSM, and the presidency of the

World Peace Council The World Peace Council (WPC) is an international organization created in 1949 by the Cominform and propped up by the Soviet Union. Throughout the Cold War, WPC engaged in propaganda efforts on behalf of the Soviet Union, whereby it criticize ...

, an international organization of

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...

youth.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Skála, Josef 1952 births Living people Charles University alumni Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia presidential candidates Candidates in the 2023 Czech presidential election Czech communists StB Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia politicians Communist Party of Czechoslovakia members Czechoslovak communists