political leader, cofounder of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, and the native Czech leader who probably contributed most to the successful Communist coup of 1948.

Zápotocký was a member of the Social Democratic Party for 20 years before the founding of the Communist Party in 1921; he engaged in Communist activities while he served in the democratic Czech Parliament. An able organizer and propagandist, he helped set up the party press, form party labour unions and cooperatives, and organize the party under the leadership of Klement Gottwald.

Zápotocký served as secretary-general of the Communist Trade Unions from 1929 to 1939, an association that gave him political strength and recognition. Thus, after World War II when the Revolutionary Trade Union Movement, composed of all of Czechoslovakia's organized labour, was formed in 1945, Zápotocký became its chairman. After the Communist takeover of the government in 1948, Zápotocký became a member of the political secretariat and premier of Czechoslovakia. He became president after the death of Gottwald in 1953 and held that position for the remainder of his life.