Gustav Husák

Gustav Husák (1913-1991), president of Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic and Slovakia) (1975-1989). Born and educated in Bratislava, he joined the Communist party in 1933 and during World War II participated in the Slovak rebellion against the occupying Germans. After the war he became a member of the National Assembly and of the party presidium until a purge led to his imprisonment (1951-1960); he was readmitted to the party in 1963. Husák became deputy premier in 1968 and helped institute the liberal reforms known as the “Prague Spring”, but after the Warsaw Pact invasion in August of that year he reversed his stand, backing the Soviet hard line. He replaced Alexander Dubček as party secretary in 1969 and became president of the country in 1975. Husák stepped down as party secretary in December 1987 but remained president until December 1989, when his resignation marked the end of Communist government in Czechoslovakia.