Jana Maláčová (born 24 June 1981) is a Czech politician who has served as the leader of the

Social Democracy Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

party since October 2024. In July 2018 she took up the post as the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs in the Czech Republic in the

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

led by Andrej Babiš. Between March 2019 and December 2021 she was also deputy chairperson of the Social Democracy (that time known as ČSSD).

Early life and career

Jana Maláčová was born 24 June 1981 in

Uherské Hradiště Uherské Hradiště (; ) is a town in the Zlín Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 25,000 inhabitants. The agglomeration with the two neighbouring towns of Staré Město (Uherské Hradiště District), Staré Město and Kunovice has over ...

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

(now the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

). She is educated at Goethe University in

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

and London School of Economics (LSE).

Political career

After finishing her undergraduate studies in 2007, Maláčová worked for the Ministry of Regional Development. Between 2012 and 2014 she worked as the representative for the Senate of the Czech Republic to the European Parliament in Brussels and later served as communications director for the Czech Government on European Union issues. In June 2015, she was appointed the head of Family and Aging policy at the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, before becoming Minister on 30 July 2018 following the resignation of Petr Krčál. She was a candidate in the December 2021 Czech Social Democratic Party leadership election. On 5 October 2024, Maláčová became the leader of Social Democratic Party.

Personal life

Maláčová speaks Czech, German, and English. She was married to Aleš Chmelař and has a son. They finalized their divorce in February 2023. On 25 May 2025, Maláčová disclosed on her social media that she had been diagnosed with cancer.

References

1981 births Living people 21st-century Czech women politicians People from Uherské Hradiště Goethe University Frankfurt alumni Alumni of the London School of Economics Czech Social Democratic Party Government ministers Labour and Social Affairs ministers of the Czech Republic Women government ministers of the Czech Republic Leaders of the Czech Social Democratic Party {{CzechRepublic-politician-stub