View source for Ladislav Adamec

{{Short description|Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia from 1988 to 1989}}
{{Expand Czech|topic=bio|date=June 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{Infobox Prime Minister
 | name=Ladislav Adamec
 | image=
 | office=[[Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia]]
 | term_start    =12 October 1988
 | term_end      =10 December 1989
 | president     =[[Gustáv Husák]]
 | predecessor   =[[Lubomír Štrougal]]
 | successor     =[[Marián Čalfa]]
|office1 = 4th Prime Minister of the Czech Socialist Republic
|term_start1 = 20 March 1987
|term_end1 = 12 October 1988
|predecessor1 = [[Josef Korčák]]
 | successor1     = [[František Pitra]]
|office2 = Chairman of the [[Communist Party of Czechoslovakia]]
|term_start2 = 21 December 1989
|term_end2 = 1 September 1990
|predecessor2 = [[Karel Urbánek]]
 | successor2     =''Office abolished''
 | birth_date    ={{Birth date|1926|9|10|df=y}}
 | birth_place   =[[Frenštát pod Radhoštěm]], [[Czechoslovakia]]
 | death_date    ={{Death date and age|2007|4|14|1926|9|10|df=y}}
 | death_place   =[[Prague]], [[Czech Republic]]
 |party = [[Communist Party of Czechoslovakia]]
}}
'''Ladislav Adamec''' (10 September 1926 &ndash; 14 April 2007) was a [[Czechoslovakia|Czechoslovak]] [[Communist Party of Czechoslovakia|communist]] politician.

==Early life==
Adamec was born in [[Moravia]] on 10 September 1926.<ref name=dk98>{{cite book|title=A Dictionary of Political Biography|year=1998|publisher=Oxford University Press|page=2|url=https://www.questia.com/read/34683400/a-dictionary-of-political-biography|author=Dennis Kavanagh|chapter=Adamec, Ladislav|isbn=|access-date=2 September 2017|archive-date=21 September 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921064758/http://www.questia.com/read/34683400/a-dictionary-of-political-biography|url-status=dead}}{{ISBN?}}</ref> From 1958 to 1961 he studied at the Political College of the Central Committee of the [[Communist Party of Czechoslovakia]] located in Prague.

==Career==
Adamec joined the Presidium in March 1987 and served as the prime minister of the [[Czech Socialist Republic]] from March 1987 to 1988.<ref name=dk98/> Upon the retirement of [[List of Prime Ministers of Czechoslovakia|Prime Minister]] [[Lubomír Štrougal]] on 12 October 1988, he assumed the role, thus serving as the last Communist prime minister of Czechoslovakia.<ref name=Hochman>{{Cite book |last=Hochman |first=Jiří |title=Historical Dictionary of the Czech State|year=1998|publisher=Scarecrow Press|location=Lanham, MD |isbn=978-0-8108-3338-8|pages=[https://archive.org/details/historicaldictio0000hoch/page/17 17]|url=https://archive.org/details/historicaldictio0000hoch|url-access=registration |accessdate=29 September 2011}}</ref><ref name=bbook>{{cite web|title=The Democratic Revolution in Czechoslovakia|url=http://www.csds.cz/cs/2759-DS/version/default/part/dsDocumentData/data/DemocraticRevolutionInCzechoslovakia_BriefingBook_1999.pdf|work=The National Security Archive|accessdate=31 August 2013|location=Prague|format=Briefing Book|date=October 1999|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131017164425/http://www.csds.cz/cs/2759-DS/version/default/part/dsDocumentData/data/DemocraticRevolutionInCzechoslovakia_BriefingBook_1999.pdf|archive-date=17 October 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> He served in the post from 12 October 1988 to 7 December 1989.<ref name=dk98/> [[Marián Čalfa]] succeeded Adamec as prime minister.<ref name=dk98/>

On 20 December, Adamec became general secretary of the [[Communist Party of Czechoslovakia]]. He was the first person to hold that post since the 1940s who was not the de facto leader of the country; the party had given up its monopoly of power on 29 November.

In March 1990, Adamec became the chairman of the Communist Party.<ref name=dk98/> The post was created with his appointment.<ref name=dk98/>

==Velvet Revolution==
The [[Velvet Revolution]] lasted from 17 November to 29 December 1989. During the [[Velvet Revolution]] student protesters took to the streets of [[Prague]] in what became an overthrow of the government. Large demonstrations that occurred on 25 and 26 November, and a public strike on 27 November, pushed the [[communist]] regime into holding a conference with the [[Civic Forum]]. The Forum demanded that Adamec form a new government—that would include existing [[National Front (Czechoslovakia)|political parties]] and [[Civic Forum]]. The federal [[government]] under Adamec had been in contact with different leaders since 21 November and on 26 November, Adamec even addressed the crowds on [[Letná Park|Letná]].

==Death==
Adamec died on 14 April 2007, at the age of 80.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/20/world/europe/20adamec.html |title=Ladislav Adamec, 80, Premier During Czechoslovak Revolution, Dies |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=20 April 2007 |access-date=17 July 2020}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Ladislav Adamec}}
{{CzechoslovakPMs}}
{{CzechPMs}}

{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adamec, Ladislav}}
[[Category:1926 births]]
[[Category:2007 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Frenštát pod Radhoštěm]]
[[Category:Leaders of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia]]
[[Category:Communist Party of Czechoslovakia prime ministers]]
[[Category:Prime ministers of Czechoslovakia]]
[[Category:Government ministers of Czechoslovakia]]
[[Category:Members of the Chamber of the Nations of Czechoslovakia (1990–1992)]]
[[Category:Czech communists]]
[[Category:Prime ministers of the Czech Socialist Republic]]
[[Category:People of the Velvet Revolution]]