Peter Colotka

{{Short description|Prime Minister of the Slovak Socialist Republic (1925–2019)}}

{{Infobox Officeholder

| image = Peter Colotka (Obrana lidu, May 1971).png

| imagesize =

| office = Prime Minister of the Slovak Socialist Republic

| president =

| term_start = 4 May 1969

| term_end = 12 October 1988

| predecessor = Štefan Sádovský

| successor = Ivan Knotek

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1925|1|10|df=y}}

| birth_place = Sedliacka Dubová, Dolný Kubín district, Czechoslovakia

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2019|4|20|1925|1|10|df=y}}

| death_place =

| party = {{ubl|Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (until 1988)|Communist Party of Slovakia (until 1988)}}

| spouse =

| alma_mater = Comenius University in Bratislava

}}

Peter Colotka (10 January 1925 – 20 April 2019) was a Slovak academic, lawyer and politician. He was the prime minister of the Slovak Socialist Republic from 1969 to 1988.

Early life and education

Colotka was born in Sedliacka Dubová, Dolný Kubín district, on 10 January 1925.{{cite book

|title=The International Who's Who|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wsnwF5v_RO0C|year=1974|publisher=Europa Publications|isbn=978-0-900362-72-9|location=London}} He studied law at Comenius University in Bratislava and graduated in 1950.{{cite web|title=Peter Colotka|url=http://www.munzinger.de/search/portrait/Peter+Colotka/0/12040.html|work=Munzinger

|access-date=6 September 2013}}

Career

Following his graduation Colotka joined the University of Bratislava and taught civil and family law. He was the prorector of the university from 1959 to 1961.{{cite journal|date=February 1975|title=Jubileá|url=https://uniba.sk/fileadmin/ruk/nasa_univerzita/NU1974-75/nu1974-75_06-februar.pdf|journal=Naša univerzita: Spravodaj Univerzity Komenského|language=sk|publisher=Rektorát UK|publication-place=Bratislava|volume=XXI|issue=6|page=7}} He served at the International Court of Justice at the Hague from 1963 to 1968. He became a professor of civil law in 1964.

He was a member of both the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia and the Slovak Communist Party.{{cite web|title=Directory of Czechoslovak Officials|date=July 1988|work=Directorate of Intelligence|archive-date=31 August 2013

|url=https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA198631.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130831113614/http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA198631|url-status=live|access-date=6 September 2013}} He was made deputy prime minister of Czechoslovakia in 1968 and was appointed president of the Czechoslovak Federal Assembly in the meeting of the Czech communist party held on 16–17 January 1969, replacing Josef Smrkovský in the post.{{cite book|editor=Jaromir Navratil|title=The Prague Spring 1968: A National Security Archive Documents Reader|location=Budapest|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ayky5eit0DIC|year=1998|publisher=Central European University Press|isbn=978-963-9116-15-3}}{{cite book|title=The State against Society: Political Crises and Their Aftermath in East Central Europe|year=1996|publisher=Princeton University Press|location=Princeton, NJ|author=Grzegorz Ekiert|isbn=9780691011134}} And Colotka was a deputy at the Assembly from 1969 to 1989. He became a member of the Czechoslovak Communist Party's presidium in April 1969 and of its central committee in May 1971. He was elected to the Slovak Communist Party's presidium in May 1969 and to the central committee in May 1971.

Colotka was appointed prime minister of the Slovak Socialist Republic on 4 May 1969, replacing Stefan Sádovský in the post.{{cite book|author=Stanislav J. Kirschbaum|title=The A to Z of Slovakia|year=2010|page=233|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-0-8108-7215-8

|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wJMfOaNrrTEC&pg=PA233}}{{cite news|title=Former Premier of Slovakia Said to Face Theft Charges|agency=Reuters|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/08/04/world/former-premier-of-slovakia-said-to-face-theft-charges.html|access-date=6 September 2013|newspaper=The New York Times|date=4 August 1991}} He also served as deputy prime minister of Czechoslovakia from 1969 to 1988. He resigned from premiership on 12 October 1988 and was replaced by Ivan Knotek in the post.{{cite news

|title=New Czech government sworn in|newspaper=The Times-News|location=Pague|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1665&dat=19881013&id=o59PAAAAIBAJ&sjid=fSQEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5352,3874391|access-date=6 September 2013|date=13 October 1988|agency=AP}} Colotka also resigned from the Czechoslovak Communist Party's presidium in October 1988.{{cite web|title=Top Communist Officials: Where Are They Now?|url=http://www.pehe.cz/clanky/1991/1991-15February1991RFERL.pdf|work=RFERL|accessdate=6 September 2013|author=Jan Obrman

|author2=Jiri Pehe|author2-link=Jiri Pehe|date=15 February 1991|archive-date=24 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924070438/http://www.pehe.cz/clanky/1991/1991-15February1991RFERL.pdf|url-status=dead}}

Colotka was appointed Czechoslovak ambassador to France in late 1988 and served in the post until 19 January 1990.

Controversy

Colotka was among the communist leaders who were interrogated about their role in the 1968 Soviet invasion. On 11 July 1990, Colotka was arrested and accused of embezzlement, abuse of power and theft. He was ultimately acquitted of all charges in 1994.

Death

Peter Colotka died at age 94 on 20 April 2019.[https://spravy.pravda.sk/domace/clanok/509623-vo-veku-94-rokov-zomrel-vysoky-komunisticky-politik-peter-colotka/ Profile of Peter Colotka] Pravda.