Jozef Lenárt

Jozef Lenárt (3 April 1923 – 11 February 2004) was a Slovak politician who was the prime minister of Czechoslovakia from 1963 to 1968.

Life and career Born in Liptovská Porúbka, Slovakia, he graduated from a chemistry high school and worked for the Baťa company. He became a member of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ) and of the Communist Party of Slovakia (KSS).

Lenart was a member of the federal parliament (whose name changed several times) from 1960 to 1990, and was Speaker of the Slovak National Council from 1962 to 1963. He was also a member from 1971 to (?)1990. He served as Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia between 1963 and 1968.

Although ethnically Slovak, he became a Czech citizen after the country split in 1993.

On the basis of insufficient evidence, on 23 September 2002 Lenárt was acquitted of treason charges (along with his co-defendant Miloš Jakeš), related to his handling (or lack thereof) of the Prague Spring events in 1968. He was accused of attending a meeting at the Soviet embassy in Prague on the day after the 1968 Warsaw Pact invasion, planning to establish a new "workers and farmers'" government.

Jozef Lenárt was a long-standing official in Czechoslovakia's communist government, holding various leadership positions for 25 years. His tenure spanned multiple leadership transitions and significant shifts in state policy.

He died in Prague in 2004.

Major functions 1950–1953, 1957–1966, and 1970–(?)1990: Member of the KSS 1956–1958: Leading Secretary of the Regional Committee of the KSS 1958–1962: Secretary of the Central Committee of the KSS 1958–(?)1990: Member of the Central Committee of the KSČ 1962–1963: Chairman of the Slovak National Council 1963–1968: Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia 1968–1970: Secretary of the Central Committee of the KSČ 1970–1987: First Secretary of the Central Committee of the KSS 1970–(?)1990: Member of the Presidium of the KSČ 1971–(?)1990: Chairman of the Central Committee of the National Front of the Slovak Socialist Republic, and Vice-Chairman of the Central Committee of the National Front of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic