Ladislav Štoll (26 June 1902 – 6 January 1981) was a Czech Marxist literary and art theorist, political activist and statesman. One of the leading cultural ideologues of Socialist Czechoslovakia, he promoted the Socialist realist stance in art and literature.

Biography

Śtoll was born in to a middle-class family. His father Emil died in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. He became a member of the Communist Party in 1929. From 1930, he attended the lectures of

František Xaver Šalda František Xaver Šalda (also known as F. X. Šalda; 22 December 1867, Liberec – 4 April 1937, Prague) was a Czechs, Czech literary critic, journalist and writer. Biography Baptized Franciscus Aloiysius Šalda, he was born in the family of F ...

and

Zdeněk Nejedlý Zdeněk Nejedlý (10 February 1878 – 9 March 1962) was a Czech musicologist, historian, music critic, author, and politician whose ideas dominated the cultural life of what is now the Czech Republic for most of the twentieth century. Although ...

at the Faculty of Philosophy of

Charles University Charles University (CUNI; , UK; ; ), or historically as the University of Prague (), is the largest university in the Czech Republic. It is one of the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest universities in the world in conti ...

. He worked in Prague at the Živnostenská Banka as an official, from where he was dismissed in 1931 for his articles in the Left Front and promotion of communism among other bank officials. After his release, he became a full-time journalist and began to devote himself to literary criticism. He was a leading member of the Left Front and responsible editor of the magazine of the same name. From 1934 he was the editor of ''

Rudé právo ''Rudé právo'' ( Czech for ''Red Justice'' or ''The Red Right'') was the official newspaper of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. History and profile ''Rudé právo'' was founded in 1920 when the party was splitting from the social demo ...

''. In 1934, he was sent by the party to Moscow as a translator of Marx and Engels' writings from German; where he stayed with his family in Moscow until 1936. With Julius Fučík, he participated in the Czech broadcast of Moscow Radio. He participated in the mobilization as a lieutenant of the bombing squadron detached in Horní Počernice. During the

occupation of Czechoslovakia Occupation commonly refers to: *Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment *Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces *Military occupation, th ...

, he worked in the Joint Stock Company for Corn Processing (1939–1945), participated in issuing illegal Rude pravo newspapers, for which he was investigated by the

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

several times in 1944. After the liberation, Štoll quick became one of the most powerful cultural figures in Czechoslovakia. In 1947, he became vice-chairman of the Cultural Unity, which united the cultural and artistic community. In April 1948, he was one of the main speakers at the Congress of National Culture. In 1950, he published the fundamental ideological work "Thirty Years of Struggle for Czech Socialist Poetry". In 1953 he was Czechoslovak Minister for Higher Education and from 1954 to 1960 Minister for Culture. As rector of the Institute for Social Sciences, which was subordinate to the Central Committee of the KSČ from 1957 to 1961. Štoll was head of the commission of the creation of the

Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences The Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences (Czech: ''Československá akademie věd'', Slovak: ''Česko-slovenská akadémia vied'') was established in 1953 to be the scientific center for Czechoslovakia. It was succeeded by the Czech Academy of Science ...

. From 1956 he was a corresponding member of the CSAV and from 1960 an academician. From 1960 onwards, Štoll's position within the party began to weaken however he was still actively involved in banning some literary works. In the years 1962–1968, he headed the Institute for Czech and World Literature of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences. After the failure of 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 ...

, he was significantly involved in

normalization Normalization or normalisation refers to a process that makes something more normal or regular. Science * Normalization process theory, a sociological theory of the implementation of new technologies or innovations * Normalization model, used in ...

in culture and social sciences. In 1972, he was again appointed director of the Institute for Czech and World Literature of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, a position he held until his death.

Works

In the interwar period, Štoll initially wrote fiction, but from 1928 he devoted himself to literary criticism and journalism subordinated to the interests of the Communist Party. * ''Člověk v aeroplánu'', 1927 * ''Otrávený chléb'', 1929 * ''Politika a světový názor'', 1946 * ''Skutečnosti tváří v tvář'', 1948 * ''Třicet let bojů za českou socialistickou poesii,'' 1950 * ''Veliký člověk Maxim Gorkij'', 1951 projev vydáno i knižně * ''Literatura a kulturní revoluce'' 1959 * ''Z bojů na levé frontě'', 1964 * ''O tvar a strukturu v slovesném umění'', 1966 * ''Umění a ideologický boj.'', dva díly první do r. 1959 a druhý do 1971 * ''O modernosti a modernismu v umění'', 1974 * ''Socialismus a osobnosti, 1974'' * ''Básník a naděje'', 1975 * ''Občan F. X. Šalda'', 1977 * ''K dějinám politických ideologií v období renesance'', 1983 * ''Z kulturních zápasů'', 1986

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Štoll, Ladislav 1902 births 1981 deaths People from Jablonec nad Nisou Czech Marxists Literary theorists Czech Marxist writers Czech literary critics Communist Party of Czechoslovakia politicians Members of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia Members of the National Assembly of Czechoslovakia (1954–1960) Czech anti-fascists Socialist realism writers 20th-century Czech writers Czech art critics Government ministers of Czechoslovakia