Born 25 November 1895 in Hroznatín. During the First World War he was captured by the Russians while fighting for the Austro-Hungarian Army, and he later joined the Czechoslovak Legion in Russia. He took part in the Battle of Zborov in July 1917 and the Legion’s Siberian campaigns of 1918–1920. He returned to his homeland on one of the last evacuee transports in September 1920. He became a professional army officer, and during the period between the wars he also lectured at the Military Academy in Hranice.
Svoboda left for Poland in 1939 after the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia. During the German invasion of Poland in September 1939 he became the Commander of the Eastern Group of the Czechoslovak Army, leading its retreat into the Soviet Union. After the German attack on the USSR Svoboda was entrusted with assembling a Czechoslovak unit which would later fight alongside the Red Army. Originally a field battalion, it grew in size during the war to become a brigade and eventually an army corps. In April 1945 Svoboda was appointed the Minister of Defence in the “Košice government” – the first Czechoslovak government in the newly liberated country. He held this post in subsequent governments until his dismissal in 1950. Two years later Svoboda was arrested and imprisoned for several months. In 1954 he resumed his political career when he entered the National Assembly. In late March 1968 he was elected President of Czechoslovakia, a post which he held until 1975. He died on 20 September 1979.
