Masarykova Demokratická academy
The Masarykova Demokratická akademie (MDA, Masaryk's Democratic Academy ) is a social-democratic- oriented association that is active in the field of education for the target groups of social democracy in the Czech Republic .
The association was founded in 1896 under the name Dělnická akademie (DA, Workers' Academy ). In 1948 it was banned by the communist regime. In 1991 the association resumed its activities, until 2009 under the name Masarykova dělnická akademie (MDA, Masaryk's Workers' Academy ), then as Masarykova Demokratieická akademie (MDA, Masaryk's Democratic Academy ).
history
The Dělnická Academy was founded on September 27, 1896 in Prague during a founding meeting of the Czech Social Democrats with the participation of TG Masaryk . One of the great protagonists was the social democratic activist Josef Steiner , who was also elected the first chairman of the academy. The future President Masaryk wrote the first program of the institution and gave lectures in the academy.
It was the first educational institution and the cultural center of the Czech social-democratic labor movement. The academy was supposed to raise the qualifications of the workers, but also to educate them culturally and at the same time to spread socialist ideas. In the years 1926–1937 alone, 45,194 courses and similar events were held, in which almost 5 million people took part.
One of the merits of the Workers 'Academy is its advocacy of freedom and democracy and against the threat from the Third Reich before and after the Munich Agreement of 1938. Leading functionaries of the Workers' Academy founded the Petiční výbor Věrni zůstaneme PVVZ in May 1938 and distributed a much-noticed manifesto against the threatening aggression of Hitler; After the occupation of the so-called remaining Czech Republic on March 15, 1939, the committee was one of the three most important Czech resistance groups in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia . In the post-war period, the academy did important work until 1948 when it was banned after the communist takeover in February 1948.
The academy today
With the restoration of the independent political parties in Czechoslovakia after 1989, the workers' academy was re-established as Masarykova dělnická academy in 1991 . In 2009 the name was changed again to Masarykova Demokratická akademie . The academy is one of the partners of the Czech social democracy Česká strana sociálně democická and also works with the German Friedrich Ebert Foundation .
The current chairman is Lubomír Zaorálek .
swell
- Masarykova Demokratická akademie , on: masarykovaakademie.cz , history of the academy
- Josef Steiner a jeho doba , detailed biography of Josef Steiner, on: cssd.cz
- Josef Steiner , curriculum vitae on the portal of the Czech-Moravian Confederation of Trade Union Associations ČMKOS, on: Josef Steiner ( Memento from June 10, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
Web links
- masarykovaakademie.cz , website of the workers' academy