Pecka, Josef Boleslav

Pecka, Josef Boleslav 

(pseudonym Boleslav Stra-Hovský) Born Sept. 19, 1849, in Prague; died July 25, 1897, in Chicago. Leader in the Czech labor movement.

Pecka, a metalworker, became involved in union-activities in 1869. From 1872 to 1881 he edited the workers’ newspaper Dělnické listy. He was one of the organizers of the Břevnov Congress of 1878, which laid the foundation of the Czechoslovak Social Democratic Labor Party. Pecka enjoyed great popularity among workers. On several occasions he was subjected to repressions by the authorities. In 1881 he moved to Vienna, and in 1885 to Chicago (USA), where he served as editor of the Czech workers’ newspapers Budoucnost, Práce, and Právo lidu. Pecka translated several works by K. Marx and F. Engels into Czech; his own articles on the Paris Commune, including “On the History of the Commune” (1874), are well known. Pecka also wrote many workers’ songs.

WORKS

Pisně proletáře. Prague, 1957.

REFERENCES

Kreibich, K. J. B. Pecka a L. Zapotocký. Brno, 1950.
Prŭkopnici socialismu u nás. Prague, 1954.