Dagmar Burešová (19 October 192930 June 2018) was a Czech lawyer and politician. She specialised in labour law and her defence of Libuše Palachová, the mother of

Jan Palach Jan Palach (; 11 August 1948 – 19 January 1969) was a Czech student of history and political economics at Charles University in Prague. His self-immolation was a political protest against the end of the Prague Spring resulting from the 1968 in ...

, was featured in the 2013 miniseries ''Burning Bush''. As a politician, Burešová served as the first

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

of Czechoslovakia, after 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 ...

. She was the chair of the

Czech National Council The Czech National Council ( cs, Česká národní rada, ČNR) was the legislative body of the Czech Republic since 1968 when the Czech Republic was created as a member state of Czech-Slovak federation. It was legally transformed into the Cham ...

from 1990 to 1992.

Personal life and death

Burešová was born in 1929 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 ...

. Burešová's father was a lawyer during the

First Czechoslovak Republic The First Czechoslovak Republic ( cs, První československá republika, sk, Prvá česko-slovenská republika), often colloquially referred to as the First Republic ( cs, První republika, Slovak: ''Prvá republika''), was the first Czechoslo ...

. She studied law at Charles University in Prague, and during that time, she hid a classmate who had escaped from a communist prison. She put her friend in touch with , who helped him flee to

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

. A recount of the events was featured in 's book ''Advokáti proti totalitě'' (''Lawyers Against Totalitarianism''). In 1950, she married Radim Bureš, a paediatrician, and they had two daughters. Burešová's father-in-law was also a lawyer. Her youngest daughter could not go to school due to Burešová's controversial work. Burešová died on 30 June 2018 after a long illness.

Career

As a lawyer, Burešová worked in labour law. Her motto was "Cowardice should be a criminal offence." She defended over 100 people who lost their jobs or were persecuted after the

Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia The Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia refers to the events of 20–21 August 1968, when the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic was jointly invaded by four Warsaw Pact countries: the Soviet Union, the Polish People's Republic, the People's Rep ...

in 1968. She also later defended writer

Milan Kundera Milan Kundera (, ; born 1 April 1929) is a Czech writer who went into exile in France in 1975, becoming a naturalised French citizen in 1981. Kundera's Czechoslovak citizenship was revoked in 1979, then conferred again in 2019. He "sees himself ...

, Ivan Medek, who later served under Czech Prime Minister

Václav Havel Václav Havel (; 5 October 193618 December 2011) was a Czech statesman, author, poet, playwright, and former dissident. Havel served as the last president of Czechoslovakia from 1989 until the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1992 and then ...

, , and Libuše Palachová, the mother of

. Palachová wanted to posthumously clear her son's name after lies from

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 ...

member about Palach's death. After defending Palachová, Burešová was watched by the

StB State Security ( cs, Státní bezpečnost, sk, Štátna bezpečnosť) or StB / ŠtB, was the secret police force in communist Czechoslovakia from 1945 to its dissolution in 1990. Serving as an intelligence and counter-intelligence agency, it d ...

. The case was featured in the 2013 three part miniseries ''Burning Bush''. After the

, Burešová served as the first

of Czechoslovakia, from 1989 to 1990.First post-communist justice minister Dagmar Burešová dies at 88
/ref> Burešová supported judicial reform. From 1990 to 1992, she was chairperson of the

. Between 1990 and 1991, Burešová held negotiations on a peace treaty and land division settlement between the Czech Republic and Slovakia. She initially opposed the idea of a treaty between the countries. In 1996, Burešová was a

KDU-ČSL KDU-ČSL (In Czech, the initials of the Christian and Democratic Union – Czechoslovak People's Party; cs, Křesťanská a demokratická unie – Československá strana lidová), often shortened to ('the populars') is a Christian-democrati ...

candidate for the

Senate of the Czech Republic The Senate (), literally "Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic", is the upper house of the Parliament of the Czech Republic. The seat of the Senate is Wallenstein Palace in Prague. Structure The Senate has 81 members, chosen in ...

. She was not elected, and was second of 10 candidates. Burešová also worked as a chair of the Czech-German Fund for the Future, which gives money to Czechs who were affected by the Nazis, and was the leader of the scouting organisation of

Junák Junák – český skaut (''Junák – Czech Scouting''), is the internationally recognized organization of Scouts and Guides of the Czech Republic. Founded in 1911, Junák – český skaut is the largest organisation of children and youth in t ...

Awards

In 2002, Burešová was awarded the Order of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buresova, Dagmar 1929 births 2018 deaths 20th-century Czech lawyers Czech politicians Justice ministers of Czechoslovakia Politicians from Prague Recipients of the Order of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk Charles University alumni Czechoslovak lawyers