Vladímir Príkazský (30 June 1935 – 12 May 2021) was a Czech politician and journalist. He was a signatory of

Charter 77 Charter 77 (''Charta 77'' in Czech language, Czech and Slovak language, Slovak) was an informal civic initiative in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic from 1976 to 1992, named after the document Charter 77 from January 1977. Founding members ...

Biography

Born in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

, Príkazský graduated from grammar school in

Skalica Skalica (, , Latin: ''Sakolcium'') is the largest town in Skalica District in western Slovakia in the Záhorie region. Located near the Czech Republic, Czech border, Skalica has a population of around 15,000. Etymology The name is derived from Slo ...

. He was unable to study humanities in university due to his relation to Vladimír Clementis, and therefore studied engineering, completed his military service, and trained as a miner. He became a journalist for , where he was part of the editorial office on children's broadcasting. Subsequently, he graduated from the Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University in Prague. As a journalist, he covered the death of

Jan Palach Jan Palach (; 11 August 1948 – 19 January 1969) was a Czech student of history and political economics at Charles University in Prague. His self-immolation in 1969 at age 20 was a political protest against the end of the Prague Spring resul ...

. Príkazský was a member of 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 ...

, but was expelled from the party and forced to leave his profession as a journalist. He was a signatory of Charter 77 and drove construction machinery for the state fishery company. In the 1970s and 80s, he was executive director of Charter 77. Príkazský returned to public life following 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 ...

. He became director of the Lidové noviny publishing house in January 1990. On 13 February 1990, he was appointed in the Marián Čalfa government and held the position until Čalfa's term ended on 27 June 1990. Vladímir Príkazský died on 12 May 2021 at the age of 85.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prikazsky, Vladimir 1935 births 2021 deaths Charter 77 signatories Czech politicians Czechoslovak politicians Czech people of Slovak descent Government ministers of Czechoslovakia Communist Party of Czechoslovakia politicians Civic Forum politicians Charles University alumni People from Prague