Přemysl Sobotka (born 18 May 1944 in

Mladá Boleslav Mladá Boleslav (; german: Jungbunzlau) is a city in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 42,000 inhabitants. Mladá Boleslav is the second most populated city in the region and a major centre of the Czech automotive in ...

) is a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

who served as the President of the Senate from 2004 to 2010. Sobotka was a candidate in

2013 Czech presidential election Presidential elections were held in the Czech Republic in January 2013, the country's first direct election for the presidency. No candidate received a majority of the votes in the first round on 11–12 January, so a second round runoff electi ...

, in January 2013. In the first round of the election he placed 8th with 2.46% (126,846 votes), failing to qualify for the second round.

Early life and career

After the

Nazi occupation German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

Sobotka's family moved to Liberec, where he still lives and where his father worked as a teacher. Sobotka graduated from the Faculty of Medicine of Charles University in 1968 as MUDr. and entered the surgical department of the Liberec Hospital, where he transferred to the X-ray department after two years. From 1991 to 1996 he was a senior consultant and Head of the Radiology Department.

Political career

Sobotka's political career started 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 ...

in 1989. He was a member of the

Civic Forum The Civic Forum (Czech: ''Občanské fórum'', OF) was a political movement in the Czech part of Czechoslovakia, established during the Velvet Revolution in 1989. The corresponding movement in Slovakia was called Public Against Violence ( Slovak ...

and joined the right-wing Civic Democratic Party after its foundation in 1991. He is a chairman of its Liberec regional organisation. He served as Councillor in the City of Liberec from 1990 to 1998. He was elected member of the Senate for the Liberec constituency for a shortened term of two years in the first Senate election held in 1996, and re-elected for two full six-year terms in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

and 2004. He was elected Vice President of the Senate several times. He was elected President of the Senate for a two-year term on 15 December 2004, and re-elected for another two-year term in 2006.

Personal life

He has two daughters from his first marriage, called Věra and Martina. He also has a stepson called Prokop from his second marriage. His wife, Radmila, worked as a nurse.

References

External links

Personal website

the Senate website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sobotka, Premysl 1944 births Charles University alumni Civic Democratic Party (Czech Republic) Senators Living people Politicians from Liberec Candidates in the 2013 Czech presidential election Civic Democratic Party (Czech Republic) presidential candidates Presidents of the Senate of the Czech Republic Czechoslovak physicians Czech radiologists