List of Presidents of Czechoslovakia

President of Czechoslovakia ; Czech: Prezident Československa; Slovak: Prezident Česko-Slovenska
	Standard of the President (1918–1960)
	Longest serving; Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk; 14 November 1918 – 14 December 1935
Style	His Excellency
Residence	Prague Castle; Bratislava Castle; (1969–92)
Appointer	Federal Assembly
Formation	14 November 1918
First holder	Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk
Final holder	Václav Havel
Abolished	20 July 1992
Succession	President of the Czech Republic; President of Slovakia

The President of Czechoslovakia (Czech: Prezident Československa, Slovak: Prezident Česko-Slovenska) was the head of state of Czechoslovakia, from the creation of the First Czechoslovak Republic in 1918 until the dissolution of the Czech and Slovak Federative Republic on 1 January 1993.

In periods when the presidency was vacant, most presidential duties were assumed by the Prime Minister. However, the Czechoslovak Constitutions never defined anything like a post of acting president.

The second section lists the leaders of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ) from 1948 to 1989. The post was titled as Chairman from 1948 to 1953, First Secretary from 1953 to 1971, and General Secretary from 1971 to 1989. After the 1948 coup d'état, the KSČ's leader was the country's de facto chief executive. However, three party leaders (Klement Gottwald, Antonín Novotný and Gustáv Husák) also served as president at some point in their tenures.

The last living former President of Czechoslovakia, Václav Havel, died in 2011.

As of 2020, there is one living former General Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia: Karel Urbánek.

Presidents of Czechoslovakia (1918–1992)

Czechoslovak National Social Party (ČSNS)
Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ)
Civic Forum (OF)
Independent

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Ethnicity	Elected	Term of office			Political party
No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Ethnicity	Elected	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Political party

First Czechoslovak Republic (1918–1938)
1		Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk (1850–1937)	Czech	1918 1920 1927 1934	14 November 1918	14 December 1935	17 years, 30 days	Independent
—		Milan Hodža (1878–1944)	Slovak	—	14 December 1935	18 December 1935	4 days	RSZML
2		Edvard Beneš (1884–1948)	Czech	1935	18 December 1935	5 October 1938	2 years, 291 days	ČSNS
—		Jan Syrový (1888–1970)	Czech	—	5 October 1938	30 November 1938	56 days	Independent

Second Czechoslovak Republic (1938–1939)
3		Emil Hácha (1872–1945)	Czech	1938	30 November 1938	15 March 1939	105 days	Independent

Occupation (1939–1945) Emil Hácha became State President of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, a de jure autonomous region incorporated into Nazi Germany.^[1]^[2] Edvard Beneš proclaimed himself President within the Czechoslovak government-in-exile, which was the internationally recognized government of Czechoslovakia during World War II. Jozef Tiso became President of the quasi-independent, pro-Nazi and clero-fascist Slovak Republic. Avgustyn Voloshyn became President of the Carpatho-Ukraine few days before occupation by the Kingdom of Hungary.

Third Czechoslovak Republic (1945–1948)
4		Edvard Beneš (1884–1948)	Czech	1946	4 April 1945	7 June 1948	3 years, 64 days	ČSNS

Communist Era (1948–1989) Official names: Czechoslovak Republic (1948–1960), Czechoslovak Socialist Republic (1960–1989)
5		Klement Gottwald (1896–1953)	Czech	1948	14 June 1948	14 March 1953	4 years, 273 days	KSČ
6		Antonín Zápotocký (1884–1957)	Czech	1953	21 March 1953	13 November 1957	4 years, 237 days	KSČ
7		Antonín Novotný (1904–1975)	Czech	1957 1964	19 November 1957	22 March 1968	10 years, 124 days	KSČ
8		Ludvík Svoboda (1895–1979)	Czech	1968 1973	30 March 1968	29 May 1975	7 years, 60 days	KSČ
9		Gustáv Husák (1913–1991)	Slovak	1975 1980 1985	29 May 1975	10 December 1989	14 years, 195 days	KSČ

Post–Communist Era (1989–1992) Official names: Czechoslovak Socialist Republic (1989–1990), Czech and Slovak Federative Republic (1990–1992)
10		Václav Havel (1936–2011)	Czech	1989 1990 1992 (failed)	29 December 1989	20 July 1992	2 years, 204 days	OF

General Secretaries of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (1948–1989)

Except for the final office-holder, the leader of the KSČ was de facto the most powerful person in the country during this period.

Title: Chairman (1948–1953) and First Secretary (1953–1971).

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Ethnicity	Term of office
No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Ethnicity	Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Klement Gottwald (1896–1953)	Czech	February 1948	14 March 1953	5 years, 41 days
2		Antonín Novotný (1904–1975)	Czech	14 March 1953	5 January 1968	14 years, 297 days
3		Alexander Dubček (1921–1992)	Slovak	5 January 1968	17 April 1969	1 year, 102 days
4		Gustáv Husák (1913–1991)	Slovak	17 April 1969	17 December 1987	18 years, 244 days
5		Miloš Jakeš (1922–2020)	Czech	17 December 1987	24 November 1989	1 year, 342 days
6		Karel Urbánek (born 1941)	Czech	24 November 1989	20 December 1989	26 days

Timeline

Presidential Standards

1918–1939, 1945–1960
1960–1990
1990–1992

References

[1] Rare 1943 Third Reich facts booklet

[2] Heavily illustrated rare big original 1943 Nazi book on Eastern Europe and Asia Archived 2009-04-10 at the Wayback Machine

[1]

[2]