Jiří Dienstbier
| Jiří Dienstbier | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 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, ČSSD and others |
| Alma mater | Charles University in Prague |
Jiří Dienstbier (20 April 1937, in Kladno – 8 January 2011, in Prague) was a Czech politician and journalist. 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 started Lidove noviny.[1]
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.
In 2000, the Vienna-based International Press Institute named him one of its 50 World Press Freedom Heroes of the past 50 years.[2]
Awards and Honors
In 2013, Dienstbier was posthumously awarded the Hanno R. Ellenbogen Citizenship Award by the Prague Society for International Cooperation.[3]
References
- ↑ "Jiri Dienstbier: A Czech's career". The Economist. 13 January 2011. Retrieved 3 September 2012.
- ↑ "World Press Freedom Heroes". International Press Institute. 2012. Retrieved 26 January 2012.
- ↑ List of Hanno R. Ellenbogen Award Winners on Praguesociety.org