Antonín Janoušek Explained

Antonín Janoušek
Order:Chairman of the Revolutionary Committee of the Slovak Soviet Republic
Term Start1:20 June 1919
Term End1:7 July 1919
Predecessor1:Post established
Successor1:Post abolished
Birth Date:22 August 1877
Birth Place:Nymburk, Kingdom of Bohemia,
Death Place:Moscow, Russian SFSR,
Restingplace:Olšany Cemetery
Nationality:Czechoslovakia
Party:Hungarian Communist Party
Czechoslovak Communist Party

Antonín Janoušek (22 August 1877 – 30 March 1941) was a Czech journalist and communist who was the leader of the short-lived Slovak Soviet Republic.

Life and career

Originally an engine fitter, in 1895, Janoušek became a member of the Czechoslavonic Social Democratic Workers' Party. In 1906, he became a workers journalists and a functionary of workers associations in Austria-Hungary.

Communist activities

In 1919, Janoušek led the Czech and Slovak section at the central committee of the Hungarian Communist Party. He was the only “chairman of the revolutionary committee” (predseda revolučného výboru) of the short-lived Slovak Soviet Republic, proclaimed in Prešov on 20 June 1919. The republic was created with military support from the Hungarian Soviet Republic. After the Hungarians were pushed out by troops of the First Czechoslovak Republic following the Hungarian–Czechoslovak War of 1918–1919, the Slovak Soviet Republic ceased to exist on 7 July 1919.

Later life

Janoušek was imprisoned by the regime of Miklós Horthy in Hungary in 1920, and subsequently handed over to Czechoslovak authorities. In 1922, he moved to Soviet Russia, where he became a functionary of the International Workers Aid Council. He lived in Cheboksary, Chuvashia where he established an orphanage.

Janoušek died "in bed" of natural causes as reported by the historian V. Nálevka.[1] After cremation, his remains were buried at the Jan Žižka National Monument at Vítkov. In 1990, his ashes were moved to Olšany Cemetery, together with those of about 20 other communist leaders which had also originally been placed in the Jan Žižka National Monument.[2]

References

  1. http://it.pedf.cuni.cz/~suchanko/mff/kolman.pdf Arnošt Kolman: Memories (abridged)
  2. Web site: Radio Prague: Exhibition at Vitkov Memorial highlights the Klement Gottwald personality cult. 8 March 2012. 19 September 2012.