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 ) , image_name = Carolinum_Logo.svg , image_size = 200px , established = , type = Public, Ancient , budget = 8.9 billion CZK , rector = Milena Králíčková , faculty = 4,057 , administrative_staff = 4,026 , students = 51,438 , undergr ...

, and at first he was quite close to the

Czech National Socialist Party The Czech National Socialist Party ( cs, Česká strana národně socialistická), abbreviated to ČSNS 2005, was a centre-left nationalist political party in the Czech Republic. Founded in 2005 by members of the Czech National Social Party beca ...

. 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 Republic, Czech poet, journalist and playwright. He was one of the founding members of KSČ - Communist Party of Czechoslovakia - in 1921. Life He was born in Prostějov, int ...

, he leaned towards the left.''Komunistky s fanatismem v srdci''. První. vyd. Praha: Nakladatelství BRÁNA, 2006 He joined the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia in 1925, offered the party his legal services and became a legal representative of the Communist Party and '' Rudé právo''. Sekanina was a close collaborator with other Czech and Slovak Communist activists and intellectuals such as Julius Fučík,

Václav Kopecký Václav Kopecký (27 August 1897 – 5 August 1961) was a Czechoslovak Communist politician, journalist and chief ideologue of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia during the leadership of Klement Gottwald. A high-ranking member of the party sin ...

, Vladimír Clementis and

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

. 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 (; bg, Гео̀рги Димитро̀в Миха̀йлов), also known as Georgiy Mihaylovich Dimitrov (russian: Гео́ргий Миха́йлович Дими́тров; 18 June 1882 – 2 July 1949), was a Bulgarian ...

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

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sekanina, Ivan 1900 births 1940 deaths People 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