Rudolf Schuster (born 4 January 1934) is a Slovak politician, who served as the second president of Slovakia from 1999 to 2004. He was elected on 29 May 1999 and inaugurated on 15 June. In the presidential elections of April 2004, in which he sought re-election, Schuster was defeated. He received only 7.4% of the vote, with three other candidates (more specifically

Ivan Gašparovič Ivan Gašparovič (; born 27 March 1941) is a Slovak politician and lawyer who was third president of Slovakia from 2004 to 2014. He was also the first and currently the only Slovak president to be re-elected. Biography Ivan Gašparovič was ...

Vladimír Mečiar Vladimír Mečiar (; born 26 July 1942) is a Slovak politician who served as the prime minister of Slovakia three times, from 1990 to 1991, from 1992 to 1994 and from 1994 to 1998. He was the leader of the People's Party - Movement for a Democr ...

, and Eduard Kukan) receiving more than that. He was succeeded by

Life and career

Schuster was born in Košice. From 1964 to 1990, he was a member of the

Communist Party of Slovakia The Communist Party of Slovakia ( sk, Komunistická strana Slovenska, KSS) is a communist party in Slovakia, formed in 1992, through the merger of the Communist Party of Slovakia – 91 and the Communist League of Slovakia. The party is observer ...

. Before becoming president, he was Mayor ( Slovak: ''primátor'') of Košice in 1983–1986 and 1994–1999 respectively. He was also the last Communist president of the

Slovak National Council The Slovak National Council ( sk, Slovenská národná rada (SNR)) was an organisation that was formed at various times in the 19th and 20th centuries to act as the highest representative of the Slovak nation. It originated in the mid-19th century ...

(1989–1990), Ambassador of Czechoslovakia to Canada (1990–1992) and a leader of the Party of Civic Understanding (''SOP – Strana občianskeho porozumenia'', 1998–1999). He speaks Slovak,

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

, German (including Mantak dialect), Russian, English, and Hungarian fluently. Schuster's father's family is of Carpathian German origin, while his mother's family is of Hungarian origin. Rudolf Schuster was married in 1961 to Irena Trojáková (died 2008) and he has two children (son Peter and daughter Ingrid) and two granddaughters. In his private life, he is a sports fan, a traveller and a writer. He is also a camera fan. In 1998 he founded the centre-left Party of Civic Understanding (''SOP – Strana občianskeho porozumenia''). In 1999 he received honorary citizenship from

Miskolc Miskolc ( , , ; Czech language, Czech and sk, Miškovec; german: Mischkolz; yi, script=Latn, Mishkoltz; ro, Mișcolț) is a city in northeastern Hungary, known for its heavy industry. With a population of 161,265 (1 Jan 2014) Miskolc is the ...

, as recognition of the good cooperation between the city and Košice during his mayorship. Rudolf Schuster - Donald H

In 2004, Schuster sought re-election in the 2004 presidential election and received 7.4% of the votes.

Honours and awards

National

* : Andrej Hlinka Order (2019) * : Ľudovít Štúr Order (2019) * : Milan Rastislav Štefánik Cross (2019)

Foreign

* : Order of the Redeemer (2000) * : Order of the Star of Romania (2000) * : Knight Grand Cross of the Grand Order of King Tomislav ("For outstanding contribution to the promotion of friendship and development co-operation between the Republic of Croatia and the Slovak Republic." – Zagreb, 2 October 2001) * : Order of Merit (2001) * : Knight Grand Cross with Grand Cordon of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (28 June 2002) * : Order of Isabella the Catholic (1 July 2002)Boletín Oficial del Estado
/ref> * :

Royal Order of the Seraphim The Royal Order of the Seraphim ( sv, Kungliga Serafimerorden; ''Seraphim'' being a category of angels) is a Swedish order of chivalry created by King Frederick I on 23 February 1748, together with the Order of the Sword and the Order of the P ...

(2002) * : Order of the White Eagle (2002) * : Hungarian Order of Merit (2003) * : Order of the Athir (2003) * :

Order of the White Lion The Order of the White Lion ( cs, Řád Bílého lva) is the highest order of the Czech Republic. It continues a Czechoslovak order of the same name created in 1922 as an award for foreigners (Czechoslovakia had no civilian decoration for its ...

(2019)

References

External links

President Rudolf Schuster‘s official webpage
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Schuster, Rudolf 1934 births Living people Politicians from Košice Slovak communists Slovak Roman Catholics Presidents of Slovakia People of Hungarian German descent Slovak people of German descent Grand Crosses with Chain of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary (civil) Recipients of the Order of the Star of Romania Knights Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic Communist Party of Czechoslovakia politicians Ambassadors of Czechoslovakia to Canada Collars of the Order of Isabella the Catholic Recipients of the Order of the White Lion Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Poland) Recipients of the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, 1st class Members of the National Council (Slovakia) 1998-2002