20. století
Gustav Husak
Last communist president of Czechoslovakia
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Husak was the last communist president of Czechoslovakia. During his governance, the notorious “normalization” period took place and his rule was ended with the famous “Velvet Revolution”. He entered the Communist Party when he was 16. During the Second World War, Husak was an active participant in the Slovak National Uprising. After the war, he moved up the ladder of the communist hierarchy, but in 1950 he was blacklisted, arrested, and in 1954, following a dummy trial, was sentenced to life. He wasn’t released until the granting of mass amnesty by president Novotny. Husak became involved in the reform wing of the Communist
Party and during the period of the Prague Spring he acted as a supporter of Dubcek. But he later abandoned his “patron,” thanks to which, with the support of Brezhnev, he rose to the forefront of the Communist Party, and in 1975 even became the President of Czechoslovakia. Husak strongly supported a significant increase in child benefits, which led to a boom in birth rates in the 70’s. The children born in this period are called Husak’s children. During the period of the Velvet Revolution, Husak favored the non-violent resolution of the conflict, allowing a smoother coup d’état to take place. He died in 1991.
