Jiří Stříbrný (14 January 1880 – 21 January 1955) was a Czech politician. He was one of the "founding fathers" of the Czechoslovak Republic, but became a quite controversial figure later on. He died in prison in 1955, after being charged with World War II collaboration, although the specifics remain unclear.

Jiří Stříbrný
Minister of Post and Telegraphs
In office
1918–1919
Minister of Railroads
In office
1919 – 1920, 1922–1925
Minister of Defense
In office
1925–1926
Personal details
Born(1880-01-14)14 January 1880
Rokycany, Kingdom of Bohemia
Died21 January 1955(1955-01-21) (aged 75)
Valdice
Political partyCzech National Social Party, National league, Party of National Unity
Occupationpolitician, businessman

In 1926, Stříbrný was expelled from the Czechoslovak Socialist Party, just a short time after General Radola Gajda was forced to stand down from the military. Gajda openly admitted to being a supporter of Italian fascism, although some would say he was fired on command of Tomáš Masaryk and Edvard Beneš. Gajda expressed his grievances through the press holdings of Stříbrný, which did not sit well with the Socialist Party leadership, under Beneš (although Stříbrný was not particularly fond of Beneš himself).

Stříbrný founded a fascist party, the Slavic Socialist Party (Stranu slovanských socialistů), later known as the National league (Národní ligu), through which he participated in local elections. He cooperated with Gajda and Charles Pergler in the 1929 elections (Liga proti vázaným kandidátním listinám), getting elected to the Chamber of Deputies again. In the 1930s, he worked with Karel Kramář in the National Union (Národní sjednocení), which also included the likes of František Mareš. At the end of the Second World War, Stříbrný was arrested and charged with collaboration. He died in Valdice prison in 1955.

Further reading

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  • Libor Vykoupil: Jiří Stříbrný. Portrét politika. (Jiří Stříbrný. Portrait of a politician.), Brno, Masaryk University, 2003, ISBN 80-86488-11-X.
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Government offices
Preceded by Minister of Defence of Czechoslovakia
1925–1926
Succeeded by