Karel Urbánek (born 22 March 1941 in

Bojkovice Bojkovice () is a town in Uherské Hradiště District in the Zlín Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 4,400 inhabitants. Administrative parts Villages of Bzová, Krhov and Přečkovice are administrative parts of Bojkovice. Geography Boj ...

Moravia Moravia ( , also , ; cs, Morava ; german: link=yes, Mähren ; pl, Morawy ; szl, Morawa; la, Moravia) is a historical region in the east of the Czech Republic and one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The m ...

) is a retired Czech politician, and the last Communist leader of

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

Career

A former

railway station manager, he replaced

Miloš Jakeš Miloš Jakeš (12 August 1922 – 10 July 2020) was a Czech communist politician. He was General Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia from 1987 until 1989. He resigned from his position in late November 1989, amid the Velvet Rev ...

as Secretary General of 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 Comint ...

after a swift election on 24 November 1989 in the wake of 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 ...

. Four days later, he gave his approval to a constitutional amendment which stripped the Communist Party of its monopoly of power, which proved to be the only major decision of his tenure. However, Communist rule had effectively ended with Jakeš' resignation. He remained as party leader until 20 December 1989, when he was succeeded by

Ladislav Adamec Ladislav Adamec (10 September 1926 – 14 April 2007) was a Czechoslovak communist politician. Early life Adamec was born in Moravia on 10 September 1926. Career Adamec joined the Presidium in March 1987 and served as the prime minister o ...

References

1941 births Living people People from Bojkovice Czech communists Leaders of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia People of the Velvet Revolution {{CzechRepublic-politician-stub