Jiří Pelikán (politician)

In 1939, Pelikán joined the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ) in exile and took part in the Czech resistance to nazi occupation during the Second World War.

From 1953 to 1963, he assumed leading functions in the KSČ-led International Union of Students.

Pelikán fully supported the Prague Spring and organized the first live debate in common with the Austrian television ORF.

When the troops of the Warsaw Pact entered Prague on 20 August 1968, he organized the resistance among journalists.

After the Velvet Revolution of 1989, he became a member of the Consultative Council of the then Czech president Václav Havel from 1990 to 1991.