Jaromír Dolanský (15 February 1895 – 16 July 1973) was a Czechoslovak

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

and

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

Biography

Dolanský was born in to the family of a teacher and

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also defined as the study of ...

. He studied at the Faculty of

Law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

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 ...

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

from 1913 to 1915. He then served on the Russian Eastern Front during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, and resumed his studies at the university from 1918 to 1921. In 1922 he joined 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 ...

(KSČ). Dolanský joined the radical,

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

- and

Comintern The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern and also known as the Third International, was a political international which existed from 1919 to 1943 and advocated world communism. Emerging from the collapse of the Second Internatio ...

-oriented group around

Klement Gottwald Klement Gottwald (; 23 November 1896 – 14 March 1953) was a Czech communist politician, who was the leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia from 1929 until his death in 1953 – titled as general secretary until 1945 and as chairman f ...

, which later went down in history under the nickname ''karlínští kluci'' ("Karlín boys"). At the Fifth Congress of the KSČ in February 1929, these young officials seized power in the KSČ. He directed the theoretical party magazine ''Komunistická revue'' from 1924, and was a member of the party leadership from around 1938. Dolanský was involved in the trade union movement and was secretary of the radical organization ''Rudé odbory'' ("Red Trade Unions") from 1930 to 1935. From 1935 he was a member of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

. After the occupation of the Czech lands by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

in 1939, Dolanský was arrested while trying to flee the country. After being interned at

Pankrác Prison Pankrác Prison, officially Prague Pankrác Remand Prison (), is a prison in Prague, Czech Republic. A part of the Czech Prison Service, it is located southeast of Prague city centre in Pankrác, not far from Pražského povstání metro stati ...

in Prague, he was briefly held in

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

before being sent to

Sachsenhausen concentration camp Sachsenhausen () or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a German Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used from 1936 until April 1945, shortly before the defeat of Nazi Germany in May later that year. It mainly held political prisoners t ...

. Dolanský would be imprisoned in Sachsenhausen for five years, until the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. After the end of the war, Dolanský returned to Czechoslovakia and again sat on the Central Committee of the Communist Party from 2 August 1945; on 4 September 1945, he was elected to the Central Committee Presidium, where he sat until 15 June 1954. From September 1951 to June 1954 he also took part in meetings of the Political Secretariat of the Central Committee. He was a member of the

Politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the highest organ of the central committee in communist parties. The term is also sometimes used to refer to similar organs in socialist and Islamist parties, such as the UK Labour Party's NEC or the Poli ...

of the Central Committee until 8 December 1962, and then again of the Presidium of the Central Committee until 4 April 1968. Dolanský also served as a government minister during the post-war years. From 1946 to 1949 he was Minister of Finance in the

government and in the government of

Antonín Zápotocký Antonín Zápotocký (; 19 December 1884 – 13 November 1957) was a Czech communist politician and statesman in Czechoslovakia. He served as the Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia from 1948 to 1953, and then as President of Czechoslovakia from 1 ...

, then Deputy Prime Minister of the

Viliam Široký Viliam Široký (31 May 1902 – 6 October 1971) was a prominent communist politician of Czechoslovakia. He served as Prime Minister from 1953 to 1963, and was also the leader of the Communist Party of Slovakia between 1945 and 1954. Biogra ...

governments from 1953 to 1963. Together with

Jaroslav Kabeš Jaroslav Kabeš (18 June 1896 – 15 August 1964) was a Czechoslovak economist and politician who served as Minister of Finance and Director of the National Bank of Czechoslovakia. Kabeš had also written works of philosophy, poetry and translatio ...

, he participated in the preparation of the currency reform of 1953, which removed the savings of the population. In December 1967 he was amongst the political leaders who were against the General Secretary of the Communist Party

Antonín Novotný Antonín Josef Novotný (; 10 December 1904 – 28 January 1975) was a Czechoslovak politician who served as the President of Czechoslovakia from 1957 to 1968, and as First Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia from 1953 to 1968. ...

, and voted in favor of his removal. After 1968 he resigned from most posts himself. He was not criticized either during the

Prague Spring The Prague Spring (; ) was a period of liberalization, political liberalization and mass protest in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. It began on 5 January 1968, when reformist Alexander Dubček was elected Secretary (title), First Secre ...

or during the

normalization Normalization or normalisation refers to a process that makes something more normal or regular. Science * Normalization process theory, a sociological theory of the implementation of new technologies or innovations * Normalization model, used in ...

, nor was he party membership revoked.

Honours and awards

Order of Klement Gottwald The Order of Klement Gottwald (; ) was established by the Czechoslovak government in February 1953. The original name of the Order was "Order of building of socialist homeland". The name of the Order was changed to "Order of Klement Gottwald - fo ...

, three times (25 February 1955, 7 May 1955 and 16 January 1965)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dolansky, Jaromir 1895 births 1973 deaths Politicians from Prague People from the Kingdom of Bohemia Members of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia Finance ministers of Czechoslovakia Government ministers of Czechoslovakia Members of the Chamber of Deputies of Czechoslovakia (1935–1939) Members of the Interim National Assembly of Czechoslovakia Members of the Constituent National Assembly of Czechoslovakia Members of the National Assembly of Czechoslovakia (1948–1954) Members of the National Assembly of Czechoslovakia (1954–1960) Members of the National Assembly of Czechoslovakia (1960–1964) Members of the National Assembly of Czechoslovakia (1964–1968) Members of the Chamber of the People of Czechoslovakia (1969–1971) Czechoslovak Comintern people Czechoslovak economists Czechoslovak lawyers Sachsenhausen concentration camp survivors Sachsenhausen concentration camp prisoners Charles University alumni Austro-Hungarian military personnel of World War I Recipients of the Order of Klement Gottwald