Lukes Publishes Articles on Czech Communist Leader Rudolf Slánský
Igor Lukes, Professor of International Relations and History at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, published two articles in Pritomnost on Rudolf Slánský, general secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia and a life-long Stalinist.
On February 11, 2021, Lukes published his first article titled “Do jake doby se narodila dcera Rudolfa Slanskeho?”(The time and place of birth of Rudolf Slansky’s daughter), in which he introduces Slansky, a leading organizer of Communist rule in Czechoslovakia following World War II. In 1951, he was unexpectedly dismissed from his post, arrested, tried and executed by the Stalinist secret police.
In Lukes’ following article – published February 22, 2021, and titled “Dcera R. Slanskeho, ‘narodni sirotek’, vypovida“, [The confessions of Rudolf Slansky’s daughter], he interviews Marta Slansky, the daughter of Rudolf Slansky. In the interview, Marta details how her and her family were treated as enemies of the state from the beginning to the end of the Communist era in 1989. Once the regime imploded, Marta created the most successful real estate company in the Czech Republic. She notes that had her father been alive, he would have nationalized his daughter’s enormously successful enterprise.
Both the initial background article and full interview are available online on Pritomnost‘s website.
Igor Lukes is a past winner of the 1997 Metcalf Award for Excellence in Teaching and the 2020 winner of the Gitner Prize for Faculty Excellence at the Pardee School. He writes primarily about Central Europe. His work has won the support of various other institutions, including Fulbright, Fulbright-Hays, the Woodrow Wilson Center, IREX, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Read more about Professor Lukes on his faculty profile.