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Miloš Jakeš | |
|---|---|
 Miloš Jakeš inPrague on 1 May 2014 | |
| First Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia | |
| In office 17 December 1987 – 24 November 1989 | |
| Preceded by | Gustáv Husák |
| Succeeded by | Karel Urbánek |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1922-08-12)12 August 1922 |
| Died | 10 July 2020(2020-07-10) (aged 97) |
| Political party | Communist Party of Czechoslovakia |
| Spouse | [2] |
Miloš Jakeš (12 August 1922[3] – 10 July 2020) was a Czechcommunist politician. He wasGeneral Secretary of theCommunist Party ofCzechoslovakia from 1987 until 1989.
He resigned from his position in late November 1989, amid theVelvet Revolution.
Jakeš was born in České Chalupy, now part ofNová Ves nearČeské Budějovice. He grew up in a poor village family in theBohemian Forest borderlands before working inBata Shoes factory inZlín between 1937 and 1950. He joined the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia soon afterWorld War II, triggering his steady rise within the party ranks. In 1955 he began his studies at Moscow's Party's Higher College and, after obtaining his degree in 1958, his career continued without interruption, undisturbed even during the 1968Prague Spring period. After theSoviet invasion, Jakeš became one of the main initiators of the politicalpurges carried out in the name of "normalization".
Following the ouster ofGustáv Husák at a dramatic party meeting in December 1987, Jakeš was nominated for the position of General Secretary by the competing factions within the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. Following his rise to power, Jakeš began to promote himself as a supporter ofglasnost andperestroika. Yet, despite the Communist Party's attempt to appease the public's demands for reform, Jakeš remained staunchly opposed to any dialogue with the growing opposition movement in the country. Even when the Velvet Revolution broke out, Jakeš refused to consider any serious talks with the opposition. Events soon overtook him, and on 24 November he resigned along with the party's entire Presidium. The Communists officially abandoned power four days later.
As General Secretary Jakeš used the first nameMiloš. During the trial it was revealed that his actual name isMilouš.[citation needed]
Jakeš gained unwanted infamy through his famous speech addressed to local party workers in Červený Hrádek close toPlzeň. When speaking about the necessity ofGorbachev-inspired "perestroika", he presented himself and the party as alonely pole plank being allegedly left alone to overcome the hardships. Jakeš also mistook the wordbroiler (type ofchicken) forboiler and spoke in an embarrassingly familiar way about some Czech pop music singers when pointing to their allegedly super-high incomes ("None of us earns so much!"). His speech had been recorded by a journalist from Czech Television who managed to secretly make a copy of the tape. The recording was frequently copied among the people[specify] in summer 1989 and afterwards.[4]
Jakeš lived inPrague as an ordinary pensioner and was a frequent guest at Communist rallies after the revolution. He wrote a book entitledDva roky generálním tajemníkem (Two years as the General Secretary), in which he compared the forty-year-long Communist rule ofCzechoslovakia to theHussite period in the nation's history. Jakeš died between 9 July 2020 and the following day at the age of 97.[5]
| Party political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | First Secretary of theCommunist Party of Czechoslovakia 17 December 1987 – 24 November 1989 | Succeeded by |
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