Gustav Husak

Born on January 10, 1913 in Bratislava, Slovakia, under the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He was the son of an unemployed worker. He studied at the Law Department of Komensky University in Bratislava in his early years and joined the Communist Party of Slovakia while at school in 1933. After receiving a doctorate in law in 1937, he became a lawyer and engaged in underground work for the party. During World War II, he was imprisoned by the Czech puppet government (1940-1943). After being released, in 1943, he was elected as a member of the Underground Central Committee of Slovakia and the Presidium of the National Council of Slovakia. On August 29, 1944, he organized and led the Anti-Fascist National Uprising Movement in Slovakia, and served as Vice Chairman and Member of the Administrative Committee of the Slovakia National Council, Member of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Slovakia and Vice Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Slovakia.

After the war, he began his career as a party and government official. From August 1946 to April 1950, he served as the chairperson of the Slovak Administrative Council. After becoming a victim of Stalin's post-war purges, he was accused of being a bourgeois nationalist in 1950 and dismissed from his positions inside and outside the party. In February 1951, he was arrested and expelled from the party. In April 1954, he was sentenced to life imprisonment. In May 1960, he was released by amnesty and found a low-level civil servant position in Bratislava. In December 1963, the charges were overturned and his reputation and party membership were restored. Until 1967, he had been attacking the neo-Stalinist leadership in the party. In April 1968, while party leader Aleksandr Dubcek was pursuing reforms, he became Slovakia's deputy prime minister and issued a warning when Dubcek's liberal reforms unnerved Soviet leaders.

When the Soviet Union sent troops to suppress the Prague Spring, Husak became the head of those party members who called for the abolition of Dubcek's reforms. With Brezhnev's support, he served successively as a member of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, member of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and member of the Executive Committee of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. In April 1969, he served as First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (renamed General Secretary in 1971), concurrently serving as Chairman of the National Defense Commission and Commander-in-Chief of the Workers 'Picket. He banned Dubcek's reforms, purged liberal members of the party, and then concentrated on the national economy, which significantly improved national life. At the same time, he firmly controlled dissidents and suppressed the Charter 77 Movement. In 1975, among other positions, he succeeded General Ludvik Swoboda as President of the Republic and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. In 1983, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for his contribution to the socialist family. In December 1987, he was excluded from the situation due to his opposition to Soviet leader Gorbachev's reform plan and was forced to resign as General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. After the Velvet Revolution in late December 1989, he resigned as president and was replaced by playwright and former dissident Vaclav Havel. He was expelled from the party in February 1990. Almost forgotten when he died in 1991.