Jan Kavan
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Jan Kavan | |
---|---|
President of the United Nations General Assembly | |
In office 15 September 2002 – 16 September 2003 | |
Preceded by | Han Seung-soo |
Succeeded by | Julian Hunte |
3rd Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic | |
In office 22 July 1998 – 12 July 2002 | |
Prime Minister | Miloš Zeman |
Preceded by | Jaroslav Šedivý |
Succeeded by | Cyril Svoboda |
Personal details | |
Born | ČSSD | 17 October 1946
Other political affiliations | Labour Party (1972-1990) |
Alma mater | Charles University, London School of Economics, University of Reading |
Profession | Politician |
Jan Kavan (born 17 October 1946) is a former Czech politician and diplomat.
Biography
Kavan was born in London as the son of a Czechoslovak diplomat, Pavel Kavan, and a British teacher, Rosemary Kavanová. Kavan moved back to Czechoslovakia with his parents as a child. His father was then arrested in a Communist Party purge and sentenced to 25 years in prison in a show trial in the 1950s. He was eventually released, but died in 1960 aged 46. Kavan's mother later wrote a memoir, Love and Freedom. Kavan was one of the student leaders of the Prague Spring movement in 1968. When the movement was crushed by the Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia, Kavan emigrated to the United Kingdom, the country of his birth, where he was a member of the Labour Party from 1972 to 1990.
Kavan is member of the
Before returning to former Czechoslovakia after the fall of the Communist government, Kavan spent 20 years in exile in the UK. While in exile he was the editor-in-chief of the Palach Press, a press agency. He was also editor of the East European Reporter and vice-president of the East European Cultural Foundation, both organizations having been founded by him. In 1991, back in Czechoslovakia, Kavan was wrongly accused of collaboration with the Czechoslovak secret service (StB) in the years 1969–1970.[1] He was totally cleared of the charges by a Prague Municipal Court in 1994 and finally, after a renewed process, by a Court of Appeals in January 1996.
He received several honorary degrees, including Honorary Fellow of the
Kavan was educated at the
External links
- Biography at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic
- Biography
- General Assembly President Jan Kavan's timeline on the pages of United Nations
References
- ISBN 80-86427-01-3