Alexander Dubcek

He was traveling by car in September 1992 when the vehicle met with an accident on a highway near Humpolec. He sustained serious injuries in the crash and died two months later on 7 November 1992. He was buried in Slávičie údolie cemetery in Bratislava, Slovakia.

Alexander Dubcek was born on 27 November 1921 in Uhrovec, Czechoslovakia. His father, Stefan Dubček, was a member of the Czechoslovak Communist Party. His family moved to the Soviet Union when he was three and returned to Czechoslovakia after a few years.

He was politically inclined from a young age, and inspired by his father, he too believed in communist ideals. During the World War II he joined the underground resistance against Nazi occupation and fought in the Slovak National Uprising in 1944. He was wounded in the fight while his brother was killed.

Alexander Dubcek joined the Communist Party of Slovakia (KSS) during the war. In 1948, the party was transformed into the Slovak branch of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ).

He found much success in his career during the post war period and steadily rose through the ranks in Communist Czechoslovakia. He became a member of the National Assembly in the parliament of Czechoslovakia in 1951.

He joined the Central Committee of the Slovak branch in 1955 and became a full member of the Central Committee’s Presidium in 1962. Meanwhile, he also continued his education and graduated from the Moscow Political College in 1958.

In 1963, he succeeded Karol Balicek, a Stalinist, as First Secretary of the Slovak Communist Party after a power struggle for the leadership of the Slovak branch. Now a new generation of Slovak Communists took control of party with Dubcek as their leader.

His predecessors had been Stalinists who denigrated Slovak nationalists in the 1950s. In an attempt to reverse the damage caused by actions undertaken by them, Dubcek began the process of promoting Slovak identity.

Alexander Dubcek is best known for his attempt to reform the communist regime during the Prague Spring. As the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ), he tried to politically liberalize the country and promote decentralization and democratization.