Novotný, Antonín

Novotný, Antonín (än`tônyēn nô`vôtnē), 1904–75, Czechoslovakian Communist leader. A founding member (1921) of the Communist party, he participated (1948) in the Communist seizure of power and became first secretary of the party in 1953. In 1957 he became president of Czechoslovakia, thus uniting the two top national posts. Novotný's regime was characterized by repression, bureaucracy, and economic stagnation. A liberal majority, led by Alexander Dubček, coalesced against him and in Jan., 1968, Novotný was replaced as first secretary by Dubček. Later that year he was forced to resign from the presidency.

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Novotný, Antonín 

Born Dec. 10, 1904, in Letňany, a suburb of Prague; died Jan. 28, 1975, in Prague. Statesman and party figure of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic.

The son of a worker, Novotný joined the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (CPC) in 1921. He became active in the workers’ movement in 1928. The first secretary of the Prague regional committee of the CPC from 1945 to 1953, Novotný was a member of the Central Committee of the CPC from 1946 to 1968. He was the first secretary of the Central Committee of the CPC from 1953 to 1968 and president of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic from 1957 to 1968. At the January 1968 plenum of the Central Committee of the CPC, Novotný was relieved of his duties as first secretary of the Central Committee of the CPC, and later of all other responsibilities.