Jiří Pelikán (7 February 1923 – 26 June 1999) 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 *Czech (surnam ...

journalist and politician. Born in

Olomouc Olomouc (; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 103,000 inhabitants, making it the Statutory city (Czech Republic), sixth largest city in the country. It is the administrative centre of the Olomouc Region. Located on the Morava (rive ...

, 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 ...

in the

Czechoslovak Socialist Republic The Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, (Czech language, Czech and Slovak language, Slovak: ''Československá socialistická republika'', ČSSR) known from 1948 to 1960 as the Czechoslovak Republic (''Československá republika)'', Fourth Czecho ...

and later a

member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

for the

Italian Socialist Party The Italian Socialist Party (, PSI) was a Social democracy, social democratic and Democratic socialism, democratic socialist political party in Italy, whose history stretched for longer than a century, making it one of the longest-living parti ...

(PSI). In 1939, Pelikán 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) in exile and took part in the Czech resistance to Nazi Germany occupation during

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 ...

. From 1953 to 1963, he assumed leading functions in the KSČ-led International Union of Students. Until 1968, he was the director of the

Czechoslovak Television Czech Television ( ; abbreviation: ČT) is a public television broadcaster in the Czech Republic, broadcasting six channels. Established after breakup of Czechoslovakia in 1992, it is the successor to Czechoslovak Television founded in 1953. H ...

and a member of the parliament from 1964 to 1969. Pelikán fully supported 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 ...

and organized the first live debate in common with the Austrian television

ORF ORF or Orf may refer to: * Norfolk International Airport, IATA airport code ORF * Observer Research Foundation, an Indian research institute * One Race Films, a film production company founded by Vin Diesel * Open reading frame, a portion of the g ...

. When the troops of the

Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Pact (WP), formally the Treaty of Friendship, Co-operation and Mutual Assistance (TFCMA), was a Collective security#Collective defense, collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Polish People's Republic, Poland, between the Sovi ...

entered Prague on 20 August 1968, he organized the resistance among journalists. In 1969, he fled the

Gustáv Husák Gustáv Husák ( , ; ; 10 January 1913 – 18 November 1991) was a Czechoslovak politician who served as the long-time First Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia from 1969 to 1987 and the President of Czechoslovakia from 1975 ...

regime and was given political asylum in Italy. He was elected to the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

for the PSI in 1979 and again in 1984. After the

Velvet Revolution The Velvet Revolution () or Gentle Revolution () was a non-violent transition of power in what was then Czechoslovakia, occurring from 17 November to 28 November 1989. Popular demonstrations against the one-party government of the Communist Pa ...

of 1989, he became a member of the Consultative Council of the then Czech president

Václav Havel Václav Havel (; 5 October 193618 December 2011) was a Czech statesman, author, poet, playwright, and dissident. Havel served as the last List of presidents of Czechoslovakia, president of Czechoslovakia from 1989 until 1992, prior to the dissol ...

from 1990 to 1991. He died in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

in 1999 after a long battle with cancer.

Bibliography

*F. Caccamo, ''Jiří Pelikán a jeho cesta socialismem 20. století'', Prague 2008, *"Inventario del Fondo Jiri Pelikan", in: ''Quaderni dell'Archivio storico'' 8, Rome 2003 *Jiří Pelikán, ''Io, esule indigesto. Il Pci e la lezione del ’68 di Praga'', ed. Antonio Carioti, Milan 1998, *Jiří Pelikán (ed.), ''Feux croisés sur le stalinisme: par des socialistes, les dissidents, des eurocommunistes'', Paris,

Revue politique et parlementaire The ''Revue Politique et Parlementaire'' () is a quarterly French magazine that discusses political issues, established in 1894 by . History The magazine was founded by Marcel Fournier, a professor of law and moderate liberal, with the help of pa ...

, 1980, *Jiří Pelikán, ''Il fuoco di Praga. Per un socialismo diverso'', Milan, Feltrinelli, 1978 *Jiří Pelikán, ''Socialist Opposition in Eastern Europe: The Czechoslovak Example'', Palgrave Macmillan, 1976, *Jiří Pelikán (ed.), ''Civil and Academic Freedom in the USSR and Eastern Europe'', Nottingham: Spokesman Books, 1975, *Jiří Pelikán, ''S'ils me tuent'', Paris, Grasset, 1975, *Jiří Pelikán (ed.), ''The Czechoslovak Political Trials, 1950-54: Suppressed Report of the Dubcek Government's Commission of Inquiry, 1968'', Macdonald, 1971, (2nd ed. Stanford University Press, 1975, ) *Jiří Pelikán (transl. by G. Theiner and D. Viney), ''The Secret Vysocany Congress: Proceedings and Documents of the Extraordinary Fourteenth Congress of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, 22 August 1968'', A. Lane, 1971,

External links

Page on the website of the European Parliament
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pelikan Jiri 1923 births 1999 deaths Politicians from Olomouc Jewish Czech politicians 20th-century Czech journalists Czech male journalists Communist Party of Czechoslovakia politicians Members of the National Assembly of Czechoslovakia (1948–1954) Members of the National Assembly of Czechoslovakia (1964–1968) Members of the Chamber of the People of Czechoslovakia (1969–1971) Prague Spring Czechoslovak democracy activists Czechoslovak exiles Czechoslovak emigrants to Italy Italian Socialist Party MEPs MEPs for Italy 1979–1984 MEPs for Italy 1984–1989 Czech resistance members Recipients of Medal of Merit (Czech Republic) Deaths from cancer in Lazio