Jaroslav Šabata
Jaroslav Šabata (November 2, 1927 – June 14, 2012) was a Czech political scientist, psychologist, and dissident during Czechoslovakia's Communist era. A leading dissident based in Brno, Šabata was a signatory of Charter 77 in 1977.[1] He served as the spokesman of Charter 77, the organization named for the document, from 1978 to 1981.[1]
Sabata was born in Dolenice, South Moravian Region, Czechoslovakia, on November 2, 1927.[1] He taught psychology at present-day Masaryk University throughout the 1950s and 1960s.[1]
Šabata joined the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia in the aftermath of World War II.[2] He became a prominent government supporter of the Prague Spring in 1968.[2] He left the party in 1969, soon after the Prague Spring was crushed by the Soviets, and resigned from his political positions.[1] He founded Communists in Opposition, a dissident group, during the early 1970s.[1][2] He was twice jailed for his opposition to the government as a political prisoner for a total of seven years:[2] The first from 1971 to 1976, after founding Communists in Opposition, and again from 1978 to 1981, after signing Charter 77.[1]
He was a signatory of the Charter 77 manifest and served as the groups spokesperson from 1978 t0 1981, even as he was imprisoned during the same years.[1][2]
Šabata re-entered politics after the 1989 Velvet Revolution and the Fall of Communism in Czechoslovakia. He represented the Civic Forum (OF), a Czechoslovak anti-authoritarian movement formed during the Velvet Revolution.[1] He was elected as a deputy to the Federal Assembly of Czechoslovakia, which continued to exist until the county's dissolution in 1993. He also served as a Minister Without Portfolio in the government of Czech Republic Prime Minister Petr Pithart, another Charter 77 signer, within the Civic Forum from 1990 to 1992.[1] (The Czech Republic was still an internal region within Czechoslovakia during this time)
Following the Dissolution of Czechoslovakia, Šabata became a member and foreign policy adviser to the Czech Social Democratic Party.[1]
Jaroslav Šabata died in Brno, Czech Republic, on June 14, 2012, at the age of 84.[1][2]