Early life Ivan Laluha was born on 20 November 1932 in the village of
Tekovské Lužany in the
Levice District. He was educated at the grammar school in
Zvolen and as a convinced communist aimed to study at the
Moscow State Institute of International Relations. Nonetheless, after arriving to the
Soviet Union, the university temporarily paused acceptance of foreign applicants and Laluha and other Czechoslovak students were transferred to the
Odesa University, where Laluha studied history. In the fourth year he transferred to the
Lomonosov University. After graduation, Laluha was unable to find a job as alumni of Soviet universities were seen as influenced by
Khrushchev's
reformist thinking. Nonetheless, due to his father's connections, he was appointed as a professor of
Marxism–Leninism at the newly established
Technical University in Zvolen. However, he soon departed after being accused of
Trotskyism by the head of his department. Following the
Velvet Revolution, Laluha became a deputy of the
Federal Assembly as a representative of the
Public Against Violence movement. After the
Dissolution of Czechoslovakia, Laluha became an MP of the
National Council of Slovakia. Following the collapse of the Public Against Violence, Laluha became a member of the
Movement for a Democratic Slovakia. In 1994, he joined the
Social Democratic Party of Slovakia, which failed to pass the representation threshold resulting in Laluha losing his parliament seat.
Personal life and death Laluha was married to Oľga Laluhová, a medical doctor. They had two children – daughter Ivana (born 1963) and son Ján (born 1969). He died on 21 July 2025, at the age of 92. == Awards and honours ==