Klement Gottwald was born on November 23, 1896 in Dědice or Heroltice as an illegitimate son of a poor agricultural worker named Marie Gottwaldová. Before World War I, he trained as a carpenter in Vienna and at the same time participated in activities in the workers’ sports movement and among social democratic youth. From 1915-18 he was a soldier in the Austro-Hungarian army. Since 1929 he was a member of the National Assembly and after World War II he served as Prime Minister in his first and second government. Klement Gottwald was a Czechoslovak communist politician and president.