Anton Neuwirth (1921–2004) was a Slovak medical doctor, political prisoner, Member of Parliament, Presidential candidate and ambassador.

Early life, education and family

Neuwirth was born on 22 January 1921 in Chalmová, Bystričany. He grew up in Kapušany,

Žilina Žilina (; hu, Zsolna, ; german: Sillein, or ; pl, Żylina , names in other languages) is a city in north-western Slovakia, around from the capital Bratislava, close to both the Czech and Polish borders. It is the fourth largest city of Sl ...

and

Bojnice Bojnice (german: Weinitz; hu, Bajmóc) is a historical town in central Slovakia located on the Nitra river, near the city of Prievidza. The town is situated just below the Bojnice Castle. It has a population of around 5,000. Bojnice is best know ...

. From 1939 to 1944 he studied medicine at the

Comenius University Comenius University in Bratislava ( sk, Univerzita Komenského v Bratislave) is the largest university in Slovakia, with most of its faculties located in Bratislava. It was founded in 1919, shortly after the creation of Czechoslovakia. It is name ...

(Univerzita Komenského) in Bratislava graduating as a medical doctor in 1946. During his studies he became involved with the Croatian priest, Professor Tomislav Kolakovič (1906–1992). This experience framed his social and political engagement against totalitarianism and that the church should have social issues as its priority. From 1945 to 1947 he studied chemistry at the Comenius University (Univerzita Komenského) in Bratislava. On 10 July 1947 he married Eva Adamkova; together they had four children:

Anna Záborská Anna Záborská (born 7 June 1948 in Zürich) is a Slovak politician of the Christian Union party, living in Bojnice. From 2004 to 2019 she was a Member of the European Parliament, where she was a member of the Group of the European People's Pa ...

(*1948, living in

), Katarína Schniererová (*1949, living in

), František Neuwirth (*1951, living in

Dijon Dijon (, , ) (dated) * it, Digione * la, Diviō or * lmo, Digion is the prefecture of the Côte-d'Or department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in northeastern France. the commune had a population of 156,920. The earlies ...

, France) and Anton Neuwirth (*1953, living in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

, Germany).

Medical career

In 1947 he received a scholarship to work in

Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...

with professor

Paul Karrer Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) * Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

, the 1937 Chemistry

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

laureate. Back in Slovakia in 1948, he served from 1949 to 1953 as head of the Institute of Medical Chemistry and taught at the Medical Faculty of the

and from 1949 to 1953 at the University of Veterinary in

Košice Košice ( , ; german: Kaschau ; hu, Kassa ; pl, Коszyce) is the largest city in eastern Slovakia. It is situated on the river Hornád at the eastern reaches of the Slovak Ore Mountains, near the border with Hungary. With a population of app ...

Catholic Action

Because of his activities in

Catholic Action Catholic Action is the name of groups of lay Catholics who advocate for increased Catholic influence on society. They were especially active in the nineteenth century in historically Catholic countries under anti-clerical regimes such as Spain, Ita ...

, a worldwide group, aiming at enlarging Catholic influence on society, he was arrested on 30 November 1953, accused of "treason and espionage" and condemned to twelve years imprisonment. After six and a half years in the prison in

Ilava Ilava (german: Illau, hu, Illava) is a town in the Trenčín Region, northwestern Slovakia. Name The name is of uncertain origin. The historic medieval names were ''Lewe'', ''Lewa'' (the same historic name as Levice), ''Lewa de cidca fluviom V ...

and in the high-security

Leopoldov Prison Leopoldov Prison ( sk, Ústav na výkon trestu odňatia slobody a Ústav na výkon väzby Leopoldov) is a 17th-century fortress built against Ottoman Turks that was converted into a high-security prison in the 19th century in the town of Leopoldo ...

, he was released on 11 May 1960. He returned to work as a medical doctor in

Čadca Čadca (; until 1918 Čatca, Czača, hu, Csaca, pl, Czadca) is a district town in northern Slovakia, near the border with Poland and the Czech Republic. Etymology The name is derived from a word ''čad'' (smoke, soot; Proto-Slavic: ''čadъ'', ...

Martin Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austral ...

and

Velvet revolution, politics, diplomacy and youth education

He participated actively in the

Velvet Revolution The Velvet Revolution ( cs, Sametová revoluce) or Gentle Revolution ( sk, Nežná revolúcia) was a non-violent transition of power in what was then Czechoslovakia, occurring from 17 November to 28 November 1989. Popular demonstrations agains ...

, this non-violent period of upheaval and transition which led to the transition of power in what was then Czechoslovakia. On 17 February 1990 he participated in the founding congress of the first Christian democratic party in Slovakia, the "Christian Democratic Movement" ( Kresťanskodemokratické hnutie, KDH). From 1992 to 2000 he was President of the Slovak branch of the

International Paneuropean Union The International Paneuropean Union, also referred to as the Pan-European Movement and the Pan-Europa Movement, is the oldest European unification movement. It began with the publishing of Count Richard von Coudenhove-Kalergi's manifesto ''P ...

, the oldest European unification movement, created in 1923 by Count Richard Nikolaus von Coudenhove-Kalergi's, based on the principles of liberalism, Christianity, social responsibility, and pro-Europeanism. In 1992 he was elected member of the Slovak National Parliament " National Council" ( Národná rada Slovenskej republiky), where he became President of the Health Committee. In January 1993 he ran for Slovak presidency. However, he only received 27 out of 90 needed votes in the first round of the Slovak presidential election in the National Council. In the second ballot,

Michal Kováč Michal Kováč (3 August 1930 – 5 October 2016) was the first president of Slovakia, having served from 1993 through 1998. Early life Kováč was born in the village of Ľubiša in then Czechoslovakia in 1930. He graduated from the present- ...

was elected. On 29 January 1993 he was elected Honorary President of the Slovak political party "Christian Democratic Movement" ( Kresťanskodemokratické hnutie, KDH). In 1994 he was chosen to represent his country as ambassador at the Vatican (

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...

). In 1998 he returned to Slovakia and created with Martin Luteran the Ladislav Hanus Fellowship (SLH), a civic association for students, who embrace the vision to actively contribute to understanding and developing Christian faith and culture in Slovakia. Together with Rudolf Lesňák, he published in 2000 his autobiography "Liečiť zlo láskou" (Healing evil through love). From 2001 to 2004 he was President of the Confederation of Political Prisoners of Slovakia
Konfederácie politických väzňov Slovenska
. After having visited his daughter

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

after her election as Member of the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

, he died five days later on 21 September 2004 in

, where he was buried in the family grave. On the fifth anniversary of his death, on 21 September 2009, the Collegium of Anton Neuwirth (CAN) was founded in order to honour his legacy to educate young Christian undergraduates through educational programs.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Neuwirth, Anton 1921 births 2004 deaths Slovak diplomats Comenius University alumni Comenius University faculty Christian Democratic Movement politicians Members of the National Council (Slovakia) 1992-1994 Ambassadors of Slovakia to the Holy See 20th-century Slovak physicians Czechoslovak expatriates in Switzerland Czechoslovak physicians People from Prievidza District