Ladislav Zápotocký (also known under the pseudonyms Budečský and Mikuláš Haštalský; 12 January 1852 – 16 December 1916) was a Czech politician, journalist, translator and labor leader, a pioneer of socialism and Marxism in Czechoslovakia and co-founder of the
Czech Social Democratic Party
Social Democracy (, SOCDEM), known as the Czech Social Democratic Party (, ČSSD) until 10 June 2023, is a social democratic political party in the Czech Republic. Sitting on the centre-left of the political spectrum and holding pro-European ...
. He was the father of the future Communist president and prime minister
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 ...
.
Biography
Born in to the family of tailor, his father died at a young age. After graduating from primary school, he worked as a tailor and became involved in the workers' movement at the age of twenty-one.
Zápotocký founded the socialist newspaper Dělnické listy and then the ''Budoucnost''. On 28 September 1876, Zápotocký participated in the founding of the Czech provincial organization of the
Social Democratic Party of Austria
The Social Democratic Party of Austria ( , SPÖ) is a social democratic political party in Austria. Founded in 1889 as the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria (, SDAPÖ) and later known as the Socialist Party of Austria () from 1945 unt ...
and was elected to its leadership. In 1877, he founded the "Workers' Educational Discussion Association" which was dissolved as a result of Zápotocký's speeches promoting atheism.
On 7 April 1878, the so-called Břevnov Congress took place in the U Kaštanu inn in Břevnov (now Prague). The Czechoslovak Social Democratic Party in Austria was established at the congress,
Josef Boleslav Pecka
Josef Boleslav Pecka (19 September 1849 – 25 July 1897) was a Czech journalist, poet and social democratic
Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that suppor ...
and Ladislav Zápotocký were the main leaders of fhe congress. This created a special organization of the Czech Social Democrats within the Social Democratic Party of Austria.
Shortly afterwards, a police investigation into the secret association was launched. Zápotocký was sentenced to two months in prison. In 1882, he was again convicted and imprisoned for his political activities, this time for a year and a half. After serving his sentence in January 1884, he was deported to his home village of
Zákolany
Zákolany is a municipality and village in Kladno District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 600 inhabitants.
Administrative division
Zákolany consists of three municipal parts (in brackets population according to ...
in Kladno. Here he returned to his original profession of tailor for sixteen years.
After returning to Prague, Zápotocký was employed in the trade union periodical Railway Establishment. He quit the newspaper in 1906, when he suffered a stroke. However, he still contributed to the social democratic press.
Ladislav Zápotocký died from pneumonia on 16 December 1916, and was buried at the
Olšany Cemetery
Olšany Cemeteries (, ) is the largest graveyard in Prague, Czech Republic, once laid out for as many as two million burials. The graveyard is particularly noted for its many remarkable Art Nouveau monuments.
History
The Olšany Cemeteries w ...
.
He translated for the first time some of the works of
Karl Marx
Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...