Jiří Pelikán. Un lungo viaggio nell’arcipelago socialista

Jiří Pelikán (Olomouc 1923- Roma 1999) was a privileged witness of the 20th century. Through a complex and sometimes tormented path, he took part in the anti-Nazi resistance in his native Czechoslovakia, was active in the communist party in the Stalinist period and became one of the main representatives of the reformist experiment known as the Prague Spring. After the invasion of Czechoslovakia by the forces of the Pact of Warsaw and the normalization, he emigrated to Italy. There he took an increasingly stronger stand against “real socialism” and against the power politics of the USSR, publishing the journal “Listy” and supporting the oppositional movements in Eastern Europe. Pelikán played a relevant role in Italian politics as well, establishing ties with various elements of the Italian Left and moving from the search of a collaboration with the communist party of Enrico Berlinguer to a privileged relation with the socialist party of Bettino Craxi. With the support of the socialists, he was elected in the European Parliament, where he became the ideal spokesperson for eastern European opposition and dissent.