Čestmír Císař

Čestmír Císař (2 January 1920 – 24 March 2013) was a Czech politician and diplomat. He served as the first Chairman of the Czech National Council from 1968 to 1969 when the Czech Republic was part of Czechoslovakia during the Communist era. A leading advocate for reforms of the Communist Party, Císař introduced a series of liberal reforms to Communist Czechoslovakia, becoming a major figure in the Prague Spring as a result. He sought to create a new form of socialism with a "human face." His reforms were repealed following the 1968 Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia. He was removed from office and expelled from the Communist Party until the Velvet Revolution of 1989.

Life and career Císař was born in Hostomice nad Bílinou on 2 January 1920. He studied at Lycée Carnot in Dijon, France. He attended Charles University in Prague but was forced to leave the school following the German occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1939. He worked as an accountant during the Nazi occupation and World War II.

Císař focused on his writings during the 1990s and 2000s. In 2013, he attended a victory party to celebrate the election of Miloš Zeman as President of the Czech Republic.

Čestmír Císař died on 24 March 2013 in Prague, at the age of 93.

Publications