Marek Hilšer (born 23 March 1976) is a Czech politician and university lecturer who has been serving as the senator for Prague 2 since 2018. He also stood in the

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

and 2023 Czech presidential elections.

Early life

Hilšer was born in

Chomutov Chomutov (; ) is a city in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 47,000 inhabitants. There are almost 80,000 inhabitants in the city's wider metropolitan area. The historic city centre is well preserved and is protected as ...

in 1976. His family emigrated from

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

in 1989 but returned in 1990. He studied Public Relations at

Charles University Charles University (CUNI; , UK; ; ), or historically as the University of Prague (), is the largest university in the Czech Republic. It is one of the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest universities in the world in conti ...

and went to the United States in 1999, where he had jobs including working as a plumber and digger. He returned to the Czech Republic in 2004 and studied Medicine at Charles University. In 2007, he became a scientist at the First Faculty of Medicine at Charles University.

Political career

Early political career

In 2008, Hilšer led protests against plans by

Minister of Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare spending and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental heal ...

Tomáš Julínek to turn

teaching hospitals A teaching hospital or university hospital is a hospital or medical center that provides medical education and training to future and current health professionals. Teaching hospitals are almost always affiliated with one or more universities ...

into joint-stock companies.

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Mirek Topolánek Mirek Topolánek (, born 15 May 1956) is a Czech Republic, Czech politician and business manager who served as the prime minister of the Czech Republic from 2006 to 2009 and the leader of the Civic Democratic Party (Czech Republic), Civic Democr ...

later announced the plans would not be implemented. Hilšer also led protests against university reforms by

Minister of Education An education minister (sometimes minister of education) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters. Where known, the government department, ministry, or agency that develops policy and deli ...

Josef Dobeš in 2012, known as "a week of unrest".

Failed elections

Hilšer announced his candidacy for the Czech presidency on 27 July 2016. He finished fifth of the nine candidates, with 8.83% of the vote. Hilšer endorsed Jiří Drahoš for the second round. In the

2018 Czech Senate election Senate elections were held in the Czech Republic on 5 and 6 October 2018 alongside 2018 Czech municipal elections, municipal elections, with a second round held on 12 and 13 October 2018. The Conservatism, Conservative Civic Democratic Party (Czec ...

, Hilšer successfully contested the Prague 2 district, defeating incumbent Libor Michálek in the second round with 79.75% of the vote. Hilšer was a candidate in the 2023 Czech presidential election. He finished sixth of eight candidates in the first round on 14 January 2023, with 2.56% of the vote, and subsequently endorsed

Petr Pavel Petr Pavel (; born 1 November 1961) is a Czech politician and retired army general, currently serving as the president of the Czech Republic since March 2023. Prior to this, he held the position of Chairman of the NATO Military Committee from 2 ...

for the second round.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hilšer, Marek 1976 births Candidates in the 2018 Czech presidential election Candidates in the 2023 Czech presidential election Czech activists 21st-century Czech scientists Charles University alumni People from Chomutov Living people