Jiří Horák (24 April 1924 in

Hradec Králové Hradec Králové (; german: Königgrätz) is a city of the Czech Republic. It has about 91,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Hradec Králové Region. The historic centre of Hradec Králové is well preserved and is protected by law as a ...

– 25 August 2003 in

Englewood, Florida Englewood is a census-designated place (CDP) in Charlotte and Sarasota counties in the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 20,800. The Sarasota County portion of Englewood is part of the North Port–Saras ...

) was a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places *Czech, ...

politician. He was the first chairman of the

Czech Social Democratic Party The Czech Social Democratic Party ( cs, Česká strana sociálně demokratická, ČSSD, ) is a social-democratic political party in the Czech Republic. Sitting on the centre-left of the political spectrum and holding pro-European views, it is a ...

after 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 ...

in 1989. After 1945, Horák studied at Business Institute (''Vysoká škola obchodní'') in Prague and was active in the youth organisation of the

Czechoslovak Social Democratic Party The Czech Social Democratic Party ( cs, Česká strana sociálně demokratická, ČSSD, ) is a social-democratic political party in the Czech Republic. Sitting on the centre-left of the political spectrum and holding pro-European views, it is a m ...

. When the

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of '' The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ...

took all power (1948) he emigrated to

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and in 1951 to the

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. He studied

politology Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

at the

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...

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. He subsequently taught Eastern European and Russian government and politics at Manhattan College, in Riverdale (Bronx) NY. In 1967, he obtained the position of professor there, where he taught until his retirement. During his emigration, Horák participated in activities of social democracy in exile (in 1948 the party was forcibly merged with Communist Party). After the Communist Party lost its power (1989), he returned to Czechoslovakia and re-established the party, becoming its leader. During the 1990 election, the party failed to obtain seats in the parliament; Horák also got involved in internal party disputes. In the 1992 elections, the party narrowly obtained parliamentary presence. In 1993,

Miloš Zeman Miloš Zeman (; born 28 September 1944) is a Czech politician serving as the third and current President of the Czech Republic since 2013. He previously served as the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic from 1998 to 2002. As leader of the Czec ...

replaced Horák as party leader. In 1993, Horák returned to the United States, from where he criticised the new strategy of Czech social democracy.

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Short obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Horak, Jiri 1924 births 2003 deaths Politicians from Hradec Králové Leaders of the Czech Social Democratic Party Czechoslovak emigrants to the United States Recipients of the Order of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk Czech Social Democratic Party MPs