Ján Cuper (25 November 1946 – 5 February 2025) was a Slovak politician and lawyer. He served as an MP of the last Czechoslovak Federal Assembly (1992–1993) and later of the

National Council of Slovakia The National Council of the Slovak Republic (, abbreviated to ''NR SR'') is the national parliament of Slovakia. It is unicameral and consists of 150 members, who are elected by universal suffrage under proportional representation with seats dis ...

(1993–2006).

Early life and education

Ján Cuper was born on 25 November 1946 in the village of Dubová in the

Svidník District Svidník District (''okres Svidník'') is a district in the Prešov Region of eastern Slovakia. Until 1918, the district was part of the Hungarian county of Šariš (Sáros). Municipalities * Belejovce * Beňadikovce * Bodružal * Cernina * ...

. Cuper studied law at the

Comenius University Comenius University Bratislava () is the largest university in Slovakia, with most of its faculties located in Bratislava. It was founded in 1919, shortly after the creation of Czechoslovakia. It is named after Jan Amos Comenius, a 17th-century ...

, graduating in 1975. He defended his candidature in 1983 at the same university. In 1986, he joined the

Communist Party of Czechoslovakia The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia ( Czech and Slovak: ''Komunistická strana Československa'', KSČ) was a communist and Marxist–Leninist political party in Czechoslovakia that existed between 1921 and 1992. It was a member of the Com ...

, in spite of being previously persecuted for the landowner background of his family.

Political career

After the

Velvet Revolution The Velvet Revolution () or Gentle Revolution () was a non-violent transition of power in what was then Czechoslovakia, occurring from 17 November to 28 November 1989. Popular demonstrations against the one-party government of the Communist Pa ...

, Cuper became active as an organizer of rallies for the independence of Slovakia. In 1992, he was among the deputies elected on the list of

Movement for a Democratic Slovakia Movement may refer to: Generic uses * Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece * Movement (sign language), a hand movement when signing * Motion, commonly referred to as movement * Movement (music), a division of a larger co ...

to the Chamber of Nations of the Federal Assembly. He voted for the independence of Slovakia. After independence, he retained his mandate in every election until 2002. While failing to defend his mandate in

2002 Slovak parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Slovakia on 20 and 21 September 2002.Dieter Nohlen, Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1747 The People's Party – Movement for a Democratic Slovakia, Movement for a Democ ...

, he remained in the parliament as a replacement for

Sergej Kozlík Sergej Kozlík (born 27 July 1950 in Bratislava) is a Slovak politician, who had served as the Minister of Finance of Slovakia, Member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Electio ...

, who was elected MEP. In 2005, he caused a traffic accident while heavily intoxicated, but received no punishment as he was protected by

legal immunity Legal immunity, or immunity from prosecution, is a legal status wherein an individual or entity cannot be held liable for a violation of the law, in order to facilitate societal aims that outweigh the value of imposing liability in such cases. S ...

as an MP. Cuper left the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia in 2006 after the party leadership refused to include him on its list for the

2006 Slovak parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Slovakia on 17 June 2006. Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1747 Direction – Social Democracy emerged as the largest party in the National Council, winning 50 of the ...

, due to the drunk driving incident. Subsequently, Cuper attempted several unsuccessful political comebacks with the

Slovak National Party The Slovak National Party (, SNS) is an ultranationalist political party in Slovakia. The party characterizes itself as a nationalist party based on both social and European Christian values. Since 1990 SNS has won seats in every Slovak pa ...

as well as the far-right People's Party Our Slovakia. In 2017 he started working as an aide for Juraj Kolesár, an MP for the People's Party Our Slovakia.

Legal career

In addition to politics, Cuper was active as a lawyer, notably serving as an attorney for Ivan Lexa, a former head of Slovak Information Service accused of variety of criminal activities against the political opposition. Until 2017, he taught law at the

as well as at other universities.

Personal life and death

Cuper was married to Svetlana Ilavská. In 2007, he climbed

Mount Kilimanjaro Mount Kilimanjaro () is a dormant volcano in Tanzania. It is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain above sea level in the world, at above sea level and above its plateau base. It is also the highest volcano i ...

at the age of 61. Cuper collapsed and died while delivering a speech in a pub at the Miletičová open-air market in

Bratislava Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

, on 5 February 2025, at the age of 78.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cuper, Jan 1946 births 2025 deaths Members of the National Council (Slovakia) 2002-2006 Members of the National Council (Slovakia) 1998–2002 Members of the National Council (Slovakia) 1994-1998 People's Party – Movement for a Democratic Slovakia politicians 20th-century Slovak politicians People from Svidník District Members of the National Council (Slovakia) 1992–1994