Antonín Baudyš
A. Baudys in 2010
Minister of Defense
In office
January 1993 – 22 September 1994
Prime MinisterVáclav Klaus
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byVilem Holan
Deputy Prime Minister
In office
1989 – July 1992
Personal details
Born9 September 1946
Prague
Died24 August 2010 (aged 63)
NationalityCzech
Political partyCzechoslovak People's Party
Christian Democratic Union - Czechoslovak People's Party
Alma materCzech Technical University

Antonín Baudyš (9 September 1946 – 24 August 2010) was a Czech academic and politician who served as defense minister from 1993 to 1994. He was the first defense minister of the Czech Republic.[1]

Early life and education

Baudyš was born in Prague on 9 September 1946.[2][3] He studied mechanical engineering[1] and graduated from the Czech Technical University (CVUT).[3]

Career

Baudyš worked as a university professor at his alma mater, CVUT, until 1989.[1][3] He became a member of the Czechoslovak People's Party (CSL) in 1970.[3] He was named deputy prime minister in 1989 shortly after the fall of communist regime and held the post until July 1992.[3] He was appointed defense minister to the coalition cabinet led by Prime Minister Václav Klaus in January 1993.[4] The ministry was formed with his appointment.[5] He was a member of the Christian Democratic Union-Czechoslovak People's Party (KDU-CSL).[6] On 22 September 1994, Vilém Holáň of KDU-CSL replaced Baudyš in the post.[7]

Following his removal from office, he worked as a businessman[8] and a popular astrologist.[3]

Activities

One of his first activities as defense minister was to initiate the cleansing of the society from hard-liner communists and informers.[1] He stated his aim as defense minister to transform the ministry into "an integrated civilian-military institution".[9] During his tenure Baudyš was informed that the Czech army had had pathogens.[10] He ordered the destruction of them due to the fact that they were no longer necessary.[10]

Personal life and death

Baudyš married twice. He had two sons from his first marriage.[3] In May 2010, he divorced his first wife and married a woman who was 23 years younger than him.[3]

He died at age 63 on 24 August 2010.[3]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Marybeth Peterson Ulrich (1999). Democratizing Communist Militaries: The Cases of the Czech and Russian Armed Forces (PDF). University of Michigan Press. p. 85. ISBN 978-0-472-10969-2.
  2. ↑ Brokl, Lubomir; Zdenka Mansfeldová (December 1994). "Czech Republic". European Journal of Political Research. 26 (3–4): 269–277. doi:10.1111/j.1475-6765.1994.tb00446.x.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Baudys held high posts in Czechoslovak, Czech govts in 1990s". Europe Intelligence Wire. Prague. Czech News Agency. 24 August 2010.
  4. ↑ Andrew A. Michta (1 January 1999). America's New Allies: Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic in NATO. University of Washington Press. p. 135. ISBN 978-0-295-80376-0.
  5. ↑ Vesselin Dimitrov; Klaus H. Goetz; Hellmut Wollmann (2006). Governing After Communism: Institutions and Policymaking. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 131. ISBN 978-0-7425-4009-5.
  6. ↑ Tomas Kellner (28 September 1994). "Sacked Defense Minister Opens Old Wounds". The Prague Post. Archived from the original on 26 August 2013.
  7. ↑ Jeffrey Simon (1996). NATO Enlargement and Central Europe: A Study in Civil-military Relations. DIANE Publishing. p. 221. ISBN 978-1-4289-8158-4.
  8. ↑ Philip Shenon (19 October 1996). "Czechs Say They Warned U.S. of Chemical Weapons in Gulf". The New York Times.
  9. ↑ Natalie Mychajlyszyn; Harald Von Riekhoff (2004). The Evolution of Civil-military Relations in East-Central Europe and the Former Soviet Union. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 52. ISBN 978-0-313-31562-6.
  10. 1 2 Mark Wheelis; Lajos Rózsa (2009). Deadly Cultures: Biological Weapons since 1945. Harvard University Press. p. 162. ISBN 978-0-674-04513-2.
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