Antonín Novotný

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This article is about the president. For the chess composer see Antonín Novotný (chess composer)

Antonín Novotný (December 10, 1904–January 28, 1975) was president of Czechoslovakia from 1957 to 1968 and ruled as General Secretary of the Communist Party from 1953 to 1968. He was born in Letňany, now part of Prague.

Antonín Novotný, the First Secretary of the Communist Party and President of the Republic, was leader of Czechoslovakia during the Stalinisation of the country, resulting in the replacement of the Czechoslovakian democracy by a one-party communist state. His dictatorship centralized power and used force to protect his regime which lasted fifteen years.

The people were denied cultural and political rights except through the Communist Party. The growing number of educated people in Czechoslovakia led to the call for a new form of socialism; one with rule of law, elections, and responsibility.

Novotný began to lose control in 1967 due to his growing unpopularity with the public over a badly handled student protest. Novotný resigned in January of 1968 and was replaced by Alexander Dubček.

He died on January 28, 1975 in Prague.

[edit] References

Wheeler, George Shaw. The Human Face of Socialism: The Political Economy of Change in Czechoslovakia. Lawrence Hill and Company, Publishers, Inc.: U.S.A, May 1973.

[edit] See also

List of Presidents of Czechoslovakia

[edit] External links

Biography

Preceded by Antonín Zápotocký	President of Czechoslovakia 1957–1968	Succeeded by Ludvík Svoboda

First Secretaries of the Central Committee of the KSČ

Klement Gottwald • Antonín Novotný • Alexander Dubček • Gustáv Husák • Milouš Jakeš • Karel Urbánek

Presidents of Czechoslovakia
"First Republic"	Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk (1918-1935) • Edvard Beneš (1935-1938; 1940/1945-1948)
after Munich Agreement	Emil Hácha (1938-1939)
Communist	Klement Gottwald (1948-1953) • Antonín Zápotocký (1953-1957) • Antonín Novotný (1957-1968) • Ludvík Svoboda (1968-1975) • Gustáv Husák (1975-1989)
after Velvet Revolution	Václav Havel (1989-1992)