Rudolf Schuster (born 4 January 1934) is a Slovak politician who served as the second president of Slovakia from 1999 to 2004. He was elected on 29 May 1999 and inaugurated on 15 June. In the presidential elections of April 2004, in which he sought re-election, Schuster was defeated. He received only 7.4% of the vote, with three other candidates (more specifically Ivan Gašparovič, Vladimír Mečiar, and Eduard Kukan) receiving more than that. He was succeeded by Ivan Gašparovič.
Life and career Schuster was born in Košice. From 1964 to 1990, he was a member of the Communist Party of Slovakia. Before becoming president, he was mayor of Košice in 1983–1986 and 1994–1999 respectively. He was also the last Communist president of the Slovak National Council (1989–1990), Ambassador of Czechoslovakia to Canada (1990–1992) and a leader of the Party of Civic Understanding (SOP – Strana občianskeho porozumenia, 1998–1999).
Schuster speaks German (including Mantak dialect), Slovak, Czech, Russian, English and Hungarian fluently.
Schuster's father's family is of Carpathian German origin, while his mother's family is of Hungarian origin. Rudolf Schuster was married in 1961 to Irena Trojáková (died 2008) and he has two children (son Peter and daughter Ingrid) and two granddaughters. In his private life, he is a sports fan, a traveller and a writer. He is also a camera fan.
In 1998, Schuster founded the centre-left Party of Civic Understanding. In 1999, he received honorary citizenship from Miskolc, as recognition of the good cooperation between the city and Košice during his mayorship.Honorary citizens on the official homepage of Miskolc
In 2004, Schuster sought re-election in the 2004 presidential election and received 7.4% of the votes.
Writing Rudolf Schuster is a member of the Association of Slovak Writers. He has been the author of film scripts for various television films. His most famous works are detective novels and travelogues mainly about Brazil and Canada.
Bibliography Necestami Brazílie (1987) Prípad „Puntičkár“ (1987) Nežiaduci dôkaz (1988) Čierny notes (1989) – Bol som pri tom (1989) Rodné putá: J. Fabini (1994) – So skalpelom a bez neho (1994) – Stopy viedli k Indiánom (1995) – Strieborný mercedes (1995) – Ultimátum (1996) – Hlavná (1997) – Návrat do veľkej politiky (1998) – Explózia (1999) – Ako to bolo (2000) Rozhovory s Milanom Čičom (2001) – Muž s dvoma srdcami (2001) – V tieni brazilských pralesov (2002) – Farby Islandu (2009) – V krajine ľadových medveďov (2010) – Deň na južnom póle (2011) – Kanada, od mora k moru / Canada, From Sea to Sea (2014) –
Honours and awards National honours
Ribbon bar Country Honours Date Honour for Services to the Building 1983 Czechoslovak Order of Labour 1989 First Class of the Pribina Cross 1998 First Class of the Order of Andrej Hlinka 2019 First Class of the Order of Ľudovít Štúr 2019 First Class of the Milan Rastislav Štefánik Cross 2019 Medal for Services to Slovak Diplomacy 2023 Gratitude Medal 2024
Foreign honours Ribbon bar Country Honours DateCollar of the National Order of Merit2003Collar of the Order of the Liberator General San Martín2001 Grand Star of the Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria 2004 Grand Collar of the Order of the Southern Cross 2001 Grand Cross of the Order of Rio Branco 2024Collar of the Order of Merit2001 Grand Order of King Tomislav with Sash and Great Morning Star 2001 Grand Cross of the Order of the White Lion 2019 Grand Cross Special Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany 2001Grand Cross of the Order of the Redeemer2000 Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Pope Pius IX 2002 Grand Cross with Chain of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary 2003 Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic 2002Extraordinary Class of the Order of Merit2001 Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Gold Lion of the House of Nassau 2002 Knight of the Order of the White Eagle 2002 Grand Collar of the Order of Prince Henry 2003Grand Collar of the Order of the Star of Romania2000 Knight of the Royal Order of the Seraphim 2002 Gold Order of Freedom of the Republic of Slovenia 2003Collar of the Order pro Merito Melitensi1999 Collar of the Royal Order of Isabella the Catholic 2002 First Class of the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise 2004
References
External links President Rudolf Schuster‘s official webpage