Klement Gottwald

Klement Gottwald (1896-1953), Czechoslovakian Communist leader, who engineered the coup of 1948 and served as president of the country (1948-1953). A farmer's son, he was born in Moravia and trained as a carpenter. He was a charter member of the Czechoslovakian Communist party in 1921 and became its secretary-general in 1929. After Czechoslovakia was carved up by Germany in 1938, Gottwald went to Moscow, where he remained during World War II. Returning to Prague in 1945, he was deputy prime minister under Eduard Beneš, before becoming prime minister in 1946. After implementing the seizure of power and becoming president in 1948, Gottwald ruled the country with a Stalinist iron grip, complete with purges and executions of his opponents.