Hajek, Jiri

▪ 1994

      Czech politician (b. June 6, 1913, Krhanice, Czech.—d. Oct. 22, 1993, Prague, Czech Republic), was forced from office as a Communist Party official during the 1968 Soviet crackdown and was later an activist in the dissident movement. Hajek became involved in politics while studying law at Charles University, Prague, where he joined the youth branch of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and organized an antifascist group. These activities led to his arrest in 1939; he was interned in German camps during World War II. After the war, he served as SDP deputy to the National Assembly until 1948, when the SDP merged with the Communist Party. As a member of that party, Hajek continued to serve in the assembly (1948-58) and was promoted to various governmental and academic posts. He served as professor of international relations at Charles University (1953-55), ambassador to Britain (1955-58), deputy foreign minister (1958-62), representative to the UN (1962-65), and education minister (1965-68). In the Prague Spring of 1968, Hajek supported the reformist forces that came to power, and that year he was appointed foreign minister. When a Warsaw Pact army invaded in August, Hajek was on vacation in Yugoslavia. He traveled to the UN and denounced the invasion but resisted Western involvement. After returning to Prague he was forced to resign. Hajek returned to academic life and in 1970 was purged from the party. In 1977 Hajek was one of the original signatories of the human rights appeal known as Charter 77 and emerged as one of the group's leading spokespersons. He later formed (1988) a group to monitor the country's compliance with human rights laws. Hajek was awarded the French Legion of Honor in 1993. His writings include The Legend of Wilson in the History of Czechoslovakia (1953), Munich (1958), and Dix Ans après ("Ten Years After"; 1978).

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