Josef Smrkovský (26 February 1911 – 15 January 1974) was a Czechoslovak politician and a member of the Communist Party reform wing during the 1968 Prague Spring.

Josef Smrkovský was born into a farmer's family in Velenka, in the Kingdom of Bohemia (present-day Czech Republic).

During the Second World War, Smrkovský worked for the illegal communist resistance to Nazi occupation and eventually became a member of the central committee.

[1] Although the Czech National Council was dissolved in 1945 and its members were unpopular with Soviet authorities, Smrkovský was co-opted into the presidium of the Central Committee of the KSČ.

Not only did he support the removal of Antonín Novotný from his post as Communist Party leader, but Smrkovský's public announcement ("What Lies Ahead") at the end of January 1968 demonstrated the real impact of Alexander Dubček's election as First Secretary.

[3] Smrkovský was designated as chairman of the National Assembly in April 1968, and as a talented speaker[4] became (together with Dubček) one of the most popular politicians of the era.

[7] The obituary letter sent by Dubček to Smrkovský's relatives was published in Italian daily Giorni – Vie Nuove and reprinted in Le Monde, or New York Herald Tribune.