A Contribution to the Biography of Pankrác Krkoška

Pankrác Krkoška (1861—1888), a socialist leader, was originally a schoolmaster. Persecuted for his atheistic propaganda concerning the theory of Charles Darwin, he left the school carreer and became editor of Rovnost (Equality), a newspaper of the Social Democratic Party in Brno. His articles on fundamental educational problems contained a sharp criticism of school and education in the capitalist society. The wiews of Pankrác Krkoška were based on the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels and closely connected with his fight for socialism. Krkoška regarded socialism as an immediately approaching lawful epoch and subordinated the objectives of education to the objectives of his class. He proposed to provide a deeper and more complete basic education to all children and prepare them for work in production. However he was persuaded that only a socialist society is able to give all its members without distinction the best possible, all-round education.