Alexander Dubcek
Czech leader
Died when: 70 years 346 days (851 months)Star Sign: Sagittarius
Alexander Dubcek (Slovak pronunciation: ['aleksander 'dupt?ek]; 27 November 1921 – 7 November 1992) was a Slovak politician who served as the First Secretary of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSC) (de facto leader of Czechoslovakia) from January 1968 to April 1969.
He attempted to reform the communist government during the Prague Spring but was forced to resign following the Warsaw Pact invasion in August 1968.
During his leadership under the slogan "Socialism with a human face", Czechoslovakia lifted censorship on the media and liberalized society, fueling the so-called New Wave in filmography and paving the way for a period that became known as the Prague Spring.
However, Dubcek was put under pressure by Stalinists inside the party, as well as the Soviet leadership, who opposed the direction the country was taking and feared that Czechoslovakia could loosen ties with the Soviet Union and become more westernized.
As a result, the country was invaded by Soviet-led Warsaw Pact countries on 20–21 August 1968, effectively ending the Prague Spring.Dubcek was forced to resign in April 1969 and succeeded by Gustáv Husák, who initiated normalization by clamping down on the liberalizing and pro-democracy movement.
Dubcek was expelled from the Communist Party in 1970.During the Velvet Revolution in 1989, Dubcek served as the Chairman of the federal Czechoslovak parliament and contended for the presidency with Václav Havel.
The European Parliament awarded Dubcek the Sakharov Prize the same year.