Model of the final version of the design of the Monument to J. V. Stalin

In April 1949, the Central National Committee in Prague held a public tender for a monument to Joseph Stalin. A design by Otakar Švec on which the sculptor had cooperated with Jiří and Vlasta Štursa was selected. Stalin, as leader of his people, was situated in front of a group of figures representing the Czechoslovak and Soviet peoples - workers, farmers, the working intelligentsia and soldiers. The rows of figures conceived in relief symbolized the people’s unity under the Generalissimo’s leadership. The tender and the monument’s building were monitored by a special government commission based on whose suggestions and instructions Švec had to adjust his model several times. More distortions of his design came when the model was made monumental (15.5 x 12 x 22 m). The monument, which was in line with the requirements of socialist realism, was unveiled on May 1, 1955, one month after the artist committed suicide. The granite statuary towered at the edge of Letná Plain until 1962. Once the Stalin personality cult had come under official censure, a decision was made to remove the monument.