Antonín Novotný

(b. Letnany, 10 Dec. 1904; d. Prague, 1 Feb. 1975) Czech; First Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia 1953 – 68 Novotný was the son of a bricklayer who worked in Prague in the Czech armaments industry in the 1920s and early 1930s. At the age of 17 he joined the CPCz upon its foundation in 1921 and started working in the party organization in 1929. In 1937 he moved to Moravia, where he took over the regional party organization. From 1941 to 1945 he was imprisoned in Mauthausen concentration camp.

In 1945 Novotný became Regional Secretary for Prague. He entered the Central Committee in 1946 and played an important part in the Communist seizure of power in February 1948. After the arrest of Sláský in 1951 he entered the Presidium. Following Gottwald's death in March 1953 he was appointed First Secretary of the CPCz. After the death of Zápotocký in November 1957 he also became President of the Czechoslovak Republic. In his domestic policy, Novotný stood for a reduction of the repression of the Stalin years, but for only a limited and discreet rehabilitation of the victims. He resisted proposals for economic reform. His position was weakened after Dubček became First Secretary of the Slovak Party in May 1963. As a result of the revolt of the Slovak Party he was forced to drop two key supporters, Bacílek, a Slovak Party Secretary, and Široký, the Czechoslovak Premier, and clung on to power in 1963 only thanks to Khrushchev's support. In January 1968 he lost the leadership of the CPCz to Dubček. In February 1968 he sought the backing of Czechoslovak army officers for a coup against Dubček's regime, but failed to secure Soviet backing. On 22 March 1968 he resigned as President and was replaced by Svoboda. Shortly afterwards he was suspended from the party. He was reinstated to party membership in 1971, but played no further role in politics.