After finishing grammar school in Nový Jičín, Erban studied at the Faculty of Law at Charles University in Prague from 1931 to 1935.

[1] During World War II, he also supported the founding of the London-based Czechoslovak National Council and actively participated in the Prague uprising of May 1945.

[2] After the war Erban served as General Secretary of the Central Council of Trade Unions (ÚRO) between 1945 and 1950, where he worked closely with Antonín Zápotocký.

[1] Known as a pragmatist during the normalization period, Erban met with Václav Havel in the summer of 1989 and called for dialogue with the opposition in November of that year.

After the Velvet Revolution, he declared himself a social democrat and tried to participate in the post-communist political development in the Federal Assembly, but resigned in January 1990.