Jiří Dienstbier (20 April 1937 – 8 January 2011) was a Czech politician and journalist. Born in Kladno, he was one of Czechoslovakia's most respected foreign correspondents before being fired after the Prague Spring. Unable to have a livelihood as a journalist, he worked as a janitor for the next two decades. During this time, he secretly revived the suppressed Lidové noviny newspaper.[1]
Jiří Dienstbier | |
|---|---|
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| Foreign Minister of Czechoslovakia | |
| In office 10 December 1989 – 2 July 1992 | |
| Preceded by | Jaromír Johanes |
| Succeeded by | Jozef Moravčík |
| Senator from Kladno | |
| In office 25 October 2008 – 8 January 2011 | |
| Preceded by | Ladislav Svoboda |
| Succeeded by | Jiří Dienstbier Jr. |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 20 April 1937 Kladno, Czechoslovakia |
| Died | 8 January 2011 (aged 73) Prague, Czech Republic |
| Political party | KSČ OF OH SD-LSNS ČSSD |
| Alma mater | Charles University in Prague |
After the end of communist rule in 1989, he became the country's first non-Communist foreign minister in four decades, a post he held until 1992. In 2008 he was elected to the Czech Senate for the Kladno region. He died in Prague.
Awards and honorsEdit
In 2000, the Vienna-based International Press Institute named him one of its 50 World Press Freedom Heroes of the past 50 years.[2] In 2013, Dienstbier was posthumously awarded the Hanno R. Ellenbogen Citizenship Award given jointly by the Prague Society for International Cooperation[3] and Global Panel Foundation.
ReferencesEdit
- ^ "Jiri Dienstbier: A Czech's career". The Economist. 13 January 2011. Retrieved 3 September 2012.
- ^ "World Press Freedom Heroes". International Press Institute. 2012. Archived from the original on 16 January 2012. Retrieved 26 January 2012.
- ^ List of Hanno R. Ellenbogen Award Winners Archived 2014-09-03 at the Wayback Machine on Praguesociety.org
External linksEdit
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