| Karol Šmidke | |
| Office: | Speaker of the Slovak National Council |
| Term Start: | 14 September 1945 |
| Term End: | 14 July 1950 Serving with Jozef Lettrich (14 September 1945 – 26 February 1948) |
| Predecessor: | Jozef Lettrich |
| Successor: | František Kubač |
| Term Start1: | 5 September 1944 |
| Term End1: | 23 October 1944 Serving with Vavro Šrobár |
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| Birth Date: | 21 January 1897 |
| Birth Place: | Witkowitz, Austria-Hungary (now Vítkovice, Czech Republic) |
| Death Place: | Czechoslovak Socialist Republic |
| Party: | Communist Party of Czechoslovakia |
Karol Šmidke (21 January 1897 – 15 December 1952) was a Slovak communist politician, resistance fighter, and a member of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia.[1]
Šmidke was Co-President of the Presidium of the Slovak National Council (with Vavro Srobar) 5 September -, Co-Speaker of the Slovak National Council (with Jozef Lettrich) 14 September 1945 - 26 February 1948, Acting Speaker from 26 February to 12 March 1948 and Speaker 12 March 1948 - 14 July 1950. He was also the first President of the Board of Commissioners from 18 September 1945 until 14 August 1946, when he was succeeded by Gustáv Husák.[2]
In 1950 he lost his position in the party and was put under investigation, alongside Gustáv Husák, Laco Novomeský, and Vladimír Clementis, under accusations of being a "bourgeois nationalist".[3] He would die under unclear circumstances in 1952 before he was to be put on trial.[4] He would be posthumously rehabilitated in 1967.
pl:Maria Turlejska
. 1972 . Zapis pierwszej dekady 1945-1954 . pl . Record of the first decade 1945-1954 . . Warsaw . 172 . 21 maja 1950 r. powstało Ministerstwo Bezpieczeństwa Publicznego z Ladislavem Koprivą na czele. Rozpoczęła się ofensywa "przeciw burżuazyjnym nacjonalistom", których szukano przede wszystkim wsrod komunistów słowackich. Jednym z nich był Vlado Clementis minister spraw zagranicznych, odwołany w 1950 r. ze stanowiska. Wkrótce potem padły nazwiska innych działaczy słowackich – Šmidkego, Husáka, Novomeskiego, przywódców komunistycznego podziemia w Słowacji i współorganizatorów powstania w 1944 r. . On May 21, 1950, the Ministry of Public Security was established, headed by Ladislav Kopriva. An "offensive against bourgeois nationalists", who were sought primarily among Slovak communists, began. One of them was Vladimír Clementis, Minister of Foreign Affairs, dismissed from his position in 1950. Shortly thereafter, the names of other Slovak activists were mentioned – Šmidke, Husák, Novomeský, leaders of the communist underground in Slovakia and co-organizers of the 1944 uprising..