Přemysl Sobotka (born 18 May 1944 in

Mladá Boleslav Mladá Boleslav (; ) is a city in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 47,000 inhabitants. It lies on the left bank of the Jizera (river), Jizera River. Mladá Boleslav is the second most populated city in the region. I ...

) is a

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 *Czech (surnam ...

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

who served as the

President of the Senate President of the Senate is a title often given to the presiding officer of a senate. It corresponds to the Speaker (politics), speaker in some other assemblies. The senate president often ranks high in a jurisdiction's Order of succession, succes ...

from 2004 to 2010. Sobotka was a candidate in

2013 Czech presidential election Presidential elections were held in the Czech Republic in January 2013, the country's first direct election for the presidency. No candidate received a majority of the votes in the first round on 11–12 January, so a second round runoff electio ...

, in January 2013. In the first round of the election he placed 8th with 2.46% (126,846 votes), failing to qualify for the second round.

Early life and career

After the

Nazi occupation German-occupied Europe, or Nazi-occupied Europe, refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly militarily occupied and civil-occupied, including puppet states, by the (armed forces) and the government of Nazi Germany at ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Sobotka's family moved to

Liberec Liberec (; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 108,000 inhabitants, making it the fifth largest city in the country. It lies on the Lusatian Neisse River, in a basin surrounded by mountains. The city centre is well preserved and is pr ...

, where he still lives and where his father worked as a teacher. Sobotka graduated from the Faculty of Medicine of

Charles University Charles University (CUNI; , UK; ; ), or historically as the University of Prague (), is the largest university in the Czech Republic. It is one of the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest universities in the world in conti ...

in 1968 as

MUDr. A Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated MD, from the Latin ) is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the ''MD'' denotes a professional degree of physician. This ge ...

and entered the surgical department of the Liberec Hospital, where he transferred to the X-ray department after two years. From 1991 to 1996 he was a senior consultant and Head of the Radiology Department.

Political career

Sobotka's political career started in 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 ...

in 1989. He was a member of the

Civic Forum The Civic Forum (, OF) was a political movement in the Czech part of Czechoslovakia, established during the Velvet Revolution in 1989. The corresponding movement in Slovakia was called Public Against Violence ( – VPN). The Civic Forum's purpo ...

and joined the right-wing Civic Democratic Party after its foundation in 1991. He is a chairman of its Liberec regional organisation. He served as councillor in the City of Liberec from 1990 to 1998. He was elected member of the Senate for the Liberec constituency for a shortened term of two years in the first Senate election held in 1996, and re-elected for two full six-year terms in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

and

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

. He was elected vice president of the Senate several times. He was elected president of the Senate for a two-year term on 15 December 2004, and re-elected for another two-year term in 2006.

Personal life

He has two daughters from his first marriage, called Věra and Martina. He also has a stepson called Prokop from his second marriage. His wife, Radmila, worked as a nurse.

References

External links

Personal website

the Senate website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sobotka, Premysl 1944 births Charles University alumni Civic Democratic Party (Czech Republic) senators Living people Politicians from Liberec Candidates in the 2013 Czech presidential election Civic Democratic Party (Czech Republic) presidential candidates Presidents of the Senate of the Czech Republic Czechoslovak physicians 20th-century Czech physicians Radiologists