Ivan Laluha

Ivan Laluha (20 November 1932 – 21 July 2025) was a Slovak politician.

Life and career

Early life Ivan Laluha was born on 20 November 1932 in the village of Tekovské Lužany in the Levice District. He was educated at the grammar school in Zvolen and as a convinced communist aimed to study at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations. Nonetheless, after arriving to the Soviet Union, the university temporarily paused acceptance of foreign applicants and Laluha and other Czechoslovak students were transferred to the Odesa University, where Laluha studied history. In the fourth year he transferred to the Lomonosov University.

After graduation, Laluha was unable to find a job as alumni of Soviet universities were seen as influenced by Khrushchev's reformist thinking. Nonetheless, due to his father's connections, he was appointed as a professor of Marxism–Leninism at the newly established Technical University in Zvolen. However, he soon departed after being accused of Trotskyism by the head of his department. Following the Velvet Revolution, Laluha became a deputy of the Federal Assembly as a representative of the Public Against Violence movement. After the Dissolution of Czechoslovakia, Laluha became an MP of the National Council of Slovakia. Following the collapse of the Public Against Violence, Laluha became a member of the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia. In 1994, he joined the Social Democratic Party of Slovakia, which failed to pass the representation threshold resulting in Laluha losing his parliament seat.