Václav Klaus (born 19 June 1941) is the second President of the Czech Republic and a former Prime Minister of the Czech Republic. He is indisputably one of the most important Czech politicians of the recent era. June 19 is the 170th day of the year (171st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 195 days remaining. ... 1941 was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... This is a list of presidents of the Czech Republic. ... This is a list of Prime Ministers of the Czech Republic. ... The Czech political scene supports a broad spectrum of parties ranging from the semi-reformed Communist Party on the far left to various nationalistic parties on the extreme right. ...

Václav Klaus

Klaus was born in Prague and graduated from the University of Economics, Prague in 1963; he also spent some time at universities in Italy (1966) and the United States (1969). He pursued a postgraduate scientific career at the Institute of Economics of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, which he left (reportedly, he was ejected for political reasons) for the Czechoslovak State Bank in 1970; he joined the perestroika-minded Prognostics Institute of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences in 1987. In 1995 he achieved the degree of Professor of Finance at the Prague School of Economics. Václav Klaus, president of Czech Republic, from http://www. ... Prague (Praha in Czech) is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. ... 1963 was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1966 was a common year starting on Saturday (link goes to calendar) Events January January 1 - In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa ousts president David Dacko and takes over the Central African Republic. ... 1969 was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1969 calendar). ... Quaternary education or postgraduate education is the fourth-stage educational level which follows the completion of an undergraduate degree at a college or university. ... 1970 was a common year starting on Thursday. ... Perestroika  listen (Перестро́йка) is the Russian word (which passed into English) for the economic reforms introduced in June 1987 by the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. ... 1987 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1995 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Václav Klaus entered full-time politics soon after the Velvet Revolution in 1989. As a member (and later chairman) of Civic Forum he became the federal Minister of Finance. In April 1991 Klaus co-founded Obcanska demokraticka strana (Civic-Democratic Party, ODS), the strongest and most right-wing of the post-Civic Forum splinter parties. He remained its chairman until the autumn of 2002. The Velvet Revolution (Czech: sametová revoluce, Slovak: nežná revolúcia) (November 16 - December 29, 1989) refers to a bloodless revolution in Czechoslovakia that saw the overthrow of the communist government there. ... 1989 is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A chairman is the presiding officer of a meeting, organization, committee, or other deliberative body. ... Civic Forum (Czech: Občanské fórum - OF) was a political party in the Czech Republic right after the Velvet Revolution in 1989. ... 1991 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... ODs can also mean (drug) overdoses. ... In politics, right-wing, the political right, or simply the right, are terms which refer, with no particular precision, to the segment of the political spectrum in opposition to left-wing politics. ... 2002 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

In June 1992, ODS won the elections in the Czech Republic with a reform program; however, the winner in Slovakia was Vladimir Meciar's nationalistic HZDS. It soon became apparent that Slovak demands for increased sovereignty were incompatible with the limited "viable federation" supported in the Czech lands; both leaders assumed premiership in their respective polities and quickly agreed on a smooth division of Czechoslovakia under a caretaker federal government. 1992 is a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Vladimír Mečiar (born July 26, 1942) is the leader of the Peoples Party - Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (ĽS-HZDS) and a former Prime Minister of Slovakia. ... The Peoples Party - Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (Slovak: Ľudová strana - Hnutie za demokratické Slovensko) is a political party in Slovakia. ... Sovereignty is the exclusive right to exercise supreme authority over a geographic region, group of people, or oneself. ... A federal government is the common government of a federation. ...

Klaus continued as Prime Minister of the Czech Republic after the 1996 election, but ODS's win was much narrower and his government was plagued by increasing instability and economic problems. He had to resign in the autumn of 1997 after a government crisis caused by an ODS funding scandal, an event later called "Sarajevo Assassination", as it happened during his visit of Sarajevo at that time. A prime minister may be either: the chief or leading member of the cabinet of the top-level government in a country having a parliamentary system of government; or the official, in countries with a semi-presidential system of government, appointed to manage the civil service and execute the directives... 1996 is a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... A resignation occurs when a person holding a position gained by election or appointment steps down. ... 1997 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A scandal involves widely publicized allegations of wrong-doing, disgrace or moral outrage. ... View of Sarajevo from the east. ...

Václav Klaus is a prominent member of the Mont Pelerin Society. His enthusiasm for the free market economy as exemplified by Friedrich Hayek and Milton Friedman and as practised by Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush, together with his belief in the Adam Smith's Invisible Hand, was well known and also often criticised. Others agree with his free-market concepts, but point out that during his premiership he neglected the importance of law and enforcement of property rights, or criticize the execution of the voucher privatization. The Mont Pelerin Society (MPS) is an international organization composed of economists, intellectuals, business leaders, and others who favour economic liberalism. ... A free market is an idealized market, where all economic decisions and actions by individuals regarding transfer of money, goods, and services are voluntary, and are therefore devoid of coercion and theft (some definitions of coercion are inclusive of theft). Colloquially and loosely, a free market economy is an economy... Friedrich von Hayek Friedrich August von Hayek (May 8, 1899 in Vienna – March 23, 1992 in Freiburg) was an economist and social scientist of the Austrian School, noted for his defense of free-market capitalism against a rising tide of socialist thought in the mid-20th century. ... Milton Friedman Milton Friedman (born July 31, 1912) is a U.S. economist, known primarily for his work on macroeconomics and for his advocacy of laissez-faire capitalism. ... The Right Honourable Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG OM PC FRS, born Margaret Hilda Roberts, (born 13 October 1925) is a British stateswoman and was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990, the only woman as of 2005 to serve in that position. ... Order: 40th President Vice President: George H.W. Bush Term of office: 21 January 1981 – 20 January 1989 Preceded by: Jimmy Carter Succeeded by: George H.W. Bush Date of birth: 6 February 1911 Place of birth: Tampico, Illinois Date of death: 5 June 2004 Place of death: Bel-Air... Order: 41st President Vice President: J. Danforth Quayle Term of office: January 20, 1989 – January 20, 1993 Preceded by: Ronald Reagan Succeeded by: Bill Clinton Date of birth: June 12, 1924 Place of birth: Milton, Massachusetts First Lady: Barbara Pierce Bush Political party: Republican George Herbert Walker Bush (born June... Adam Smith Adam Smith (Baptised June 5, 1723 – July 17, 1790) was a Scottish political economist and moral philosopher. ... The Invisible hand is a metaphor created by Adam Smith to illustrate the principle of enlightened self interest. Today this principle is associated with psychological egoism. ... Use of the term The concept of property or ownership has no single or universally accepted definition. ... The voucher privatization is a privatization method where the citizens get or can inexpensively buy a book of vouchers that represent potential shares in any state-owned company. ...

ODS lost the parliamentary elections in 1998 and Miloš Zeman, chairman of the Czech Social Democratic Party (CSSD), succeeded Klaus as prime minister, although his minority government had to be supported by an "opposition agreement" with ODS and personally Klaus, who became the chairman of the Parliament. 1998 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... Miloš Zeman in Brussels to discuss entry into the EU Miloš Zeman  listen? (born 28th September, 1944 in Kolín) is a well-known Czech politician. ... The Czech Social Democratic Party (Czech: Česká strana sociálně demokratická or ČSSD) is the Social Democrat political party in the Czech Republic. ...

ODS was again defeated in the elections of June 2002; after long equivocation, Klaus resigned as party chair in the autumn and was promptly elected the honorary chairman by unanimous vote. 2002 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

After more than five years spent in opposition, Klaus was elected President of the Czech Republic by joint session of both chambers of parliament on February 28, 2003; he succeeded Václav Havel, who has been one of his greatest political opponents since the division of Czechoslovakia. The result surprised many: Klaus was elected at the third vote with just 142 votes out of 281. The governing coalition, buffeted especially by feuds within CSSD, was unable to agree on a common candidate to oppose him. Klaus achieved the quorum thanks to the votes of most Communists (whose parliament club he visited before the election and whose shunning from political meetings he ended). Apparently a faction within CSSD, unsatisfied with Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla, and reportedly even a few right-leaning members of KDU-CSL, supported Klaus. February 28 is the 59th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Václav Havel Václav Havel (IPA: ) (born October 5, 1936) is a Czech writer and dramatist. ... Vladimír Špidla Vladimír Špidla (born April 21, 1951 in Prague) is a Czech social democratic politician. ... The Christian Democratic Union - Czechoslovak Peoples Party (in Czech: Křesťansko-demokratická unie - Československá strana lidová or KDU-ČSL) is a political party in the Czech Republic. ...

Václav Klaus still has many opponents, and his alleged arrogance is the least among their criticism—they depict him as a narrow-minded pragmatist interested only in technology of power and textbook economic precepts. Beside faults of his governments—and outright corruption—the most contested issues are his relation to Communism, both in the country's past and the strengthening political party today (he's published articles praising "the grey zone" of the majority of ordinary people and condemning dissidents like Havel for haughtiness; in another article he declared himself a "non-communist" but not anticommunist, which he rejects as cheap and superficial posturing), his Eurosceptic pronouncements, which often border on pandering to the public's nationalist instincts; and an apparent desire to be liked at the expense of a longer-term, more demanding agenda. On the other hand, his backers claim that among Czech politicians of the last decade, Klaus is one of the few, if not the only one, with the intellectual capacity and dedication necessary for true statesman's greatness. This article is about communism as a form of society built around a gift economy, as an ideology that advocates that form of society, and as a popular movement. ... A dissident, broadly defined, is a person who actively opposes an established opinion, policy, or structure. ... Anti-communism is opposition to communist ideology, organization, or government, on either a theoretical or practical level. ... Euroscepticism is scepticism about, or disagreement with, the purposes of the European Union, sometimes coupled with a desire to preserve national sovereignty. ... The term statesman is a respectful term used to refer to diplomats, politicians, and other notable figures of state. ...

Klaus's popularity in public opinion polls grew rapidly in the first half of 2003, probably fuelled by his public opposition to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, his loudly voiced scepticism on the process of European integration, refusals to grant amnesties, and sometimes populist rhetoric. 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The 2003 invasion of Iraq, also called the Iraq War or Operation Iraqi Freedom, is a war that began March 20, 2003, between the United States, United Kingdom and a coalition of their allies, against Iraq. ... European integration is the process of political and economic (and in some cases social and cultural) integration of European states into a tighter bloc. ... Amnesty (from the Greek amnestia, oblivion) is an act of grace by which the supreme power in a state restores those who may have been guilty of any offence against it to the position of innocent persons. ... Populism is a political philosophy or rhetorical style that holds that the common person is oppressed by the elite in society, and that the instruments of the State need to be grasped from this self-serving elite and used for the benefit and advancement of the people as a whole. ...

Life outside politics

Václav Klaus as Santa Claus

Vaclav Klaus is married to economist Livia Klausová and has two sons and five grandchildren: Vaclav is the headmaster of a private grammar school in Prague and Jan works as a financial analyst. Václav Klaus as Santa Klaus File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Václav Klaus as Santa Klaus File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Prague (Praha in Czech) is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. ...

Václav Klaus is also a writer and wrote over 20 books on various social, political, and economics subjects, including a book about the first year of his presidency, Year One.

For many years during his youth, Vaclav Klaus was an outstanding sportsman, playing basketball and volleyball. He also enjoys skiing and tennis. He was the first to break the Stanley Cup tradition that the only those hockey players who have won it can hold the Cup; on July 26, 2004, a couple of Czech hockey players presented it to him at Prague Castle. Basketball Basketball is a ball sport in which two teams of five players each try to score points by throwing a ball through a hoop. ... Volleyball is a popular sport where teams separated by a high net hit a ball back and forth between the teams. ... Skiing is the activity of gliding over snow using skis (originally wooden planks, now usually made from fiberglass or related composites) strapped to the feet with ski bindings. ... Tennis balls This article is about the sport, tennis. ... The Stanley Cup is inscribed with the names of all the players on the teams that have won it. ... Hockey is any of a family of sports in which two teams compete by trying to maneuver a hard, round ball or a puck into the opponents goal, past the goalkeeper or goaltender (often abbreviated goalie), using a stick. ... July 26 is the 207th day (208th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 158 days remaining. ... 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Categories: Stub | Castles in Prague | Czech Castles ...

In his spare time, he enjoys fiction and music, especially jazz. Prof. Vaclav Klaus holds a number of international awards and honorary doctorates from universities all over the world. Jazz is a musical art form characterized by blue notes, syncopation, swing, call and response, polyrhythms, and improvisation. ...

He currently provoked great dispute over his decision not to appoint judges under 30 years of age.

External links

• Official personal pages (http://www.klaus.cz/klaus2/asp/texty.asp?CatID=urCqD2Z5&catP=10&textID=2), blog (http://www.klaus.cz/)
• Biography (http://www.hrad.cz/cms/en/prezident_cr/klaus.shtml) and selected speeches (http://www.hrad.cz/cms/en/prezident_cr/klaus_projevy.shtml) at the President's office
• Czech-language Wikipedia (http://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/V%C3%A1clav_Klaus)
• Wikiquotes (http://cs.wikiquote.org/wiki/V%C3%A1clav_Klaus) (in Czech only)

Petr Pithart (born January 2, 1941 in Kladno) is Czech politician. ... This is a list of Prime Ministers of the Czech Republic. ... Josef Tošovský (born September 28, 1950 in Náchod, then Czechoslovakia, now the Czech Republic) was Prime Minister of the Czech Republic from December 17, 1997 to July 17, 1998. ... Vladimír Špidla Vladimír Špidla (born April 21, 1951 in Prague) is a Czech social democratic politician. ... This is a list of presidents of the Czech Republic. ...