Rudolf Schuster

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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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

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 (Slovak: primátor) 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.<ref>Honorary citizens on the official homepage of Miskolc Template:Webarchive</ref>

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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Bibliography

Necestami Brazílie (1987)
Prípad „Puntičkár“ (1987)
Nežiaduci dôkaz (1988)
Čierny notes (1989) – Template:ISBN
Bol som pri tom (1989)
Rodné putá: J. Fabini (1994) – Template:ISBN
So skalpelom a bez neho (1994) – Template:ISBN
Stopy viedli k Indiánom (1995) – Template:ISBN
Strieborný mercedes (1995) – Template:ISBN
Ultimátum (1996) – Template:ISBN
Hlavná (1997) – Template:ISBN
Návrat do veľkej politiky (1998) – Template:ISBN
Explózia (1999) – Template:ISBN
Ako to bolo (2000)
Rozhovory s Milanom Čičom (2001) – Template:ISBN
Muž s dvoma srdcami (2001) – Template:ISBN
V tieni brazilských pralesov (2002) – Template:ISBN
Farby Islandu (2009) – Template:ISBN
V krajine ľadových medveďov (2010) – Template:ISBN
Deň na južnom póle (2011) – Template:ISBN
Kanada, od mora k moru / Canada, From Sea to Sea (2014) – Template:ISBN

Honours and awards

National honours

Country	Honours	Date
Template:Flag	Honour for Services to the Building<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	1983
Template:Flag	Czechoslovak Order of Labour<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	1989
Template:Flag	First Class of the Pribina Cross<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	1998
Template:Flag	First Class of the Order of Andrej Hlinka<ref name="prezidentka">Template:Cite web</ref>	2019
Template:Flag	First Class of the Order of Ľudovít Štúr<ref name="prezidentka" />	2019
Template:Flag	First Class of the Milan Rastislav Štefánik Cross<ref name="prezidentka" />	2019
Template:Flag	Medal for Services to Slovak Diplomacy<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>	2023
Template:Flag	Gratitude Medal<ref name="prezidentka" />	2024

Foreign honours

Ribbon bar	Country	Honours	Date
	Template:Flag	Collar of the National Order of Merit<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>	2003
	Template:Flag	Collar of the Order of the Liberator General San Martín<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	2001
	Template:Flag	Grand Star of the Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria<ref name="prezident" />	2004
	Template:Flag	Grand Collar of the Order of the Southern Cross<ref name="prezident" />	2001
	Template:Flag	Grand Cross of the Order of Rio Branco<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	2024
	Template:Flag	Collar of the Order of Merit<ref name="prezident" />	2001
	Template:Flag	Grand Order of King Tomislav with Sash and Great Morning Star<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>	2001
	Template:Flag	Grand Cross of the Order of the White Lion<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>	2019
	Template:Flag	Grand Cross Special Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany<ref name="prezident" />	2001
	Template:Flag	Grand Cross of the Order of the Redeemer<ref name="prezident" />	2000
	Template:Flag	Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Pope Pius IX<ref name="prezident" />	2002
	Template:Flag	Grand Cross with Chain of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	2003
	Template:Flag	Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	2002
	Template:Flag	Extraordinary Class of the Order of Merit<ref name="prezident" />	2001
	Template:Flag	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Gold Lion of the House of Nassau<ref name="prezident" />	2002
	Template:Flag	Knight of the Order of the White Eagle<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>	2002
	Template:Flag	Grand Collar of the Order of Prince Henry<ref name="prezident" />	2003
	Template:Flag	Grand Collar of the Order of the Star of Romania<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	2000
	Template:Flag	Knight of the Royal Order of the Seraphim<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>	2002
File:Gold medal of freedom of slovenia rib.png	Template:Flag	Gold Order of Freedom of the Republic of Slovenia<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	2003
File:OPMM-co.svg	Template:Flag	Collar of the Order pro Merito Melitensi<ref name="prezident">Template:Cite web</ref>	1999
File:Order of Isabella the Catholic - Sash of Collar.svg	Template:Flag	Collar of the Royal Order of Isabella the Catholic<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>	2002
File:Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise 1st 2nd and 3rd Class of Ukraine.png	Template:Flag	First Class of the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	2004