Antonín Janoušek

Antonín Janoušek
Chairman of the Revolutionary Committee of the Slovak Soviet Republic
In office 20 June 1919 – 7 July 1919
Preceded by	Post established
Succeeded by	Post abolished
Personal details
Born	(1877-08-22)22 August 1877 Nymburk, Kingdom of Bohemia, Austria-Hungary
Died	30 March 1941(1941-03-30) (aged 63) Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Resting place	Olšany Cemetery
Nationality	Czechoslovakia
Political party	Hungarian Communist Party Czechoslovak Communist Party

Antonín Janoušek (22 August 1877 – 30 March 1941) was a Czech journalist and communist who was the leader of the short-lived Slovak Soviet Republic.

Life and career

Originally an engine fitter, in 1895, Janoušek became a member of the Czechoslavonic Social Democratic Workers' Party. In 1906, he became a workers journalists and a functionary of workers associations in Austria-Hungary.

Communist activities

In 1919, Janoušek led the Czech and Slovak section at the central committee of the Hungarian Communist Party. He was the only “chairman of the revolutionary committee” (predseda revolučného výboru) of the short-lived Slovak Soviet Republic, proclaimed in Prešov on 20 June 1919. The republic was created with military support from the Hungarian Soviet Republic. After the Hungarians were pushed out by troops of the First Czechoslovak Republic following the Hungarian–Czechoslovak War of 1918–1919, the Slovak Soviet Republic ceased to exist on 7 July 1919.

Later life

Memorial plaque of Janoušek in Kladno in Unhošťská street, by Ladislav Novák

Olšany Cemetery, grave of Czech Communist politicians whose urns had originally been kept at the National Monument at Vítkov

Janoušek was imprisoned by the regime of Miklós Horthy in Hungary in 1920, and subsequently handed over to Czechoslovak authorities. In 1922, he moved to Soviet Russia, where he became a functionary of the International Workers Aid Council. He lived in Cheboksary, Chuvashia where he established an orphanage.

Janoušek died "in bed" of natural causes as reported by the historian V. Nálevka. After cremation, his remains were buried at the Jan Žižka National Monument at Vítkov. In 1990, his ashes were moved to Olšany Cemetery, together with those of about 20 other communist leaders which had also originally been placed in the Jan Žižka National Monument.

References

• Příruční slovník naučný 1962 (encyclopedia by Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences): volume II, page 338.