Ladislav Pittner (18 May 1934 – 15 August 2008) was a Slovak politician. He served as the Minister of Interior of Slovakia in 1994 and between 1998 and 2001.

Biography

Ladislav Pittner was born on 18 May 1934 in

Malacky Malacky ( German: ''Malatzka'', Hungarian: ''Malacka'') is a town and municipality in western Slovakia around north of Slovakia’s capital, Bratislava. From the second half of the 10th century until 1918, it was part of the Kingdom of Hungary. ...

. As a high school student, he was involved with an anti-communist dissent group ''Catholic Action.'' Due to his participation in dissent, he was expelled from school and from 1951 to 1953 jailed. Afterwards, he worked as a laborer. In the 1960s, as the repression eased with the advent of the

Prague Spring The Prague Spring (; ) was a period of liberalization, political liberalization and mass protest in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. It began on 5 January 1968, when reformist Alexander Dubček was elected Secretary (title), First Secre ...

, Pittner was able to graduate from high school and in 1970 graduate from the

University of Economics in Bratislava The Bratislava University of Economics and Business () is the oldest university of economics in Slovakia. History The university was established in 1940 as a private university under the name Vysoká obchodná škola v Bratislave (College of Co ...

. After graduating, Pittner worked as a researcher in the Institute of economics and organization of construction.

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 ...

, Pittner shortly worked in the Institute for Defense or Democracy and Constitution, leading research on persecution of dissidents in the communist era. Between November 1990 and June 1992, he served as the Minister of Interior of Slovakia, which was at the time still part of Czechoslovakia. After the

Dissolution of Czechoslovakia The dissolution of Czechoslovakia, which took effect on December 31, 1992, was the Self-determination, self-determined Partition (politics), partition of the federal republic of Fifth Czechoslovak Republic, Czechoslovakia into the independent ...

, Pittner served as the minister of Interior of Slovakia twice - first in the short-lived caretaker government of

Jozef Moravčík Jozef Moravčík (born 19 March 1945) is a Slovak diplomat and political figure. He served as the prime minister of Slovakia The prime minister of Slovakia, officially the chairman of the government of the Slovak Republic (Slovak language, S ...

in 1994 and then again in the First Cabinet of Mikuláš Dzurinda from 1998 to 2001. As a minister, he was criticized by the Party of the Democratic Left, for failing to effectively prosecute the rule of law breaches during the autocratic rule of

Vladimír Mečiar Vladimír Mečiar (; born 26 July 1942) is a Slovak former politician who served as the prime minister of Slovakia from June 1990 to May 1991, June 1992 to March 1994, and again from December 1994 to October 1998. He was the leader of the Movemen ...

and also investigate the murder of former minister

Ján Ducký image:Bajzova street Bratislava1.jpg, Bajzova Street in Bratislava, Ján Ducký was murdered in the middle apartment house Ján Ducký, Ing. (January 30, 1944 – January 11, 1999) was a Slovak people, Slovak politician, former Minister in three ...

. In response to this criticism, Ducký resigned to preserve the government coalition. Between 1992 and 2002, Pittner also served as an MP 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 ...

. From 2001 to 2003, Pittner served as the chair of the Political prisoner's conference. From 2003 to 2006, he served as the director of the Slovak intelligence agency, Slovak Information Service. Pittner was a member of the

Christian Democratic Movement The Christian Democratic Movement (, KDH) is a Christian democratic political party in Slovakia that is a member of the European People's Party (EPP) and an observer of the Centrist Democrat International The Centrist Democrat International ...

from its foundation in 1990 until 2000, where he became one of the founding members of the

Slovak Democratic and Christian Union – Democratic Party The Slovak Democratic and Christian Union – Democratic Party (, SDKÚ-DS) is a liberal-conservative, Christian-democratic political party in Slovakia. The SDKÚ-DS was a member of the Centrist Democrat International and was a member of the Eur ...

Personal life and death

Pittner was married with four children. Pittner died at the age of 74 in the Kramáre hospital 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. ...

, where he was hospitalized after a hart attack on 15 August 2008.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pittner, Ladislav 1934 births 2008 deaths Slovak Democratic and Christian Union – Democratic Party politicians Christian Democratic Movement politicians Members of the National Council (Slovakia) 1992–1994 Members of the National Council (Slovakia) 1994-1998 Members of the National Council (Slovakia) 1998–2002 University of Economics in Bratislava alumni Interior ministers of Slovakia