The 'Presidium' or 'Præsidium' (from Latin ''praesidium'' meaning protection or defense so plural presidia or praesidia) is the name for the
executive committee of various legislative and organizational bodies.
In
Communist states the presidium was the permanent executive committee of legislative bodies such as the
Supreme Soviet in the
USSR. The
Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR existed since 1936 when the
Supreme Soviet replaced the
Central Executive Committee, and from 1936 until 1991 the 'Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet' was the formal title of the
President of the Soviet Union.
From 1952 to 1966 the
Politburo of the
Communist Party of the Soviet Union was known as the 'Presidium of the Central Committee of the Communist Party' but despite the similarity in name, the two Presidia were different bodies with different functions.
A 'praesidium' is also the group of people which takes care of the daily management of a
student organisation in
Germany,
Austria,
Switzerland,
The Netherlands,
Belgium and
Poland.
See also
★
Presidium of the Bundestag (Germany)