Michal Horáček (born 23 July 1952) 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 *Czech (surnam ...

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entreprene ...

, lyricist, poet, writer, journalist and music producer. From 2007 until 2010, he was the chairman of the

Czech Academy of Popular Music 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 *Czech (surnam ...

. He founded Czech betting company Fortuna. He stood to become

Czech president The president of the Czech Republic, constitutionally defined as the President of the Republic (), is the head of state of the Czech Republic and the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Czech Republic. The presidency has largely bee ...

in the 2018 presidential election, but came in 4th in the first round, failing to advance.

2018 presidential election

In April 2016, Horáček announced his possible candidacy in the

2018 Czech presidential election Eighteen or 18 may refer to: * 18 (number) * One of the years 18 BC, AD 18, 1918, 2018 Film, television and entertainment * ''18'' (film), a 1993 Taiwanese experimental film based on the short story ''God's Dice'' * ''Eighteen'' (film), a 2 ...

. Horáček announced his candidacy on 7 October 2016. He officially launched his campaign on 3 November 2016. He said that he wanted his campaign to be based on respect for all people and their opinions. Horáček announced his advisers on 9 February 2017, including former Slovak presidential candidate

Magdaléna Vášáryová Magdaléna Vášáryová (; referred also as Magda Vášáryová ; born 26 August 1948) is a Slovakia, Slovak actress and diplomat, prominent for her liberal anti-nationalist stances. Life Vášáryová was born in 1948. In 1971, she complete ...

, nuclear energy safety expert

Dana Drábová Dana Drábová (born 3 June 1961) is a Czech physicist and politician. She is the chair of the State Office for Nuclear Safety and she was President of the 2023 meetings of the parties to the Convention on Nuclear Safety. Life Drábová was born ...

, and surgeon Pavel Pafko. In 16 April 2017, Horáček started gathering the 50,000 signatures required for participation in the election. On 6 May he reported that he had gathered the required number of signatures. Horáček finished fourth of the nine candidates, with 9.18% of the vote. Horáček then endorsed

Jiří Drahoš Jiří Drahoš (born 20 February 1949; ) is a Czech physical chemist and politician who has been the Senator of Prague 4 since October 2018. Previously, Drahoš served as President of the Czech Academy of Sciences from 2009 to 2017, and was a ca ...

for the second round. Radim Procházka and Robin Kvapil released a documentary film in 2018 about Horaček's run for presidency, entitled ''We Can Do Better''.

Political views

Horáček once said that "left-wing thinking isn't thinking", but later said that he had changed his mind and started to consider it more seriously. He describes himself as neither left-wing nor right-wing, but his platform for the 2018 presidential election was described by political scientists as left-wing. He supports

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

membership but would not oppose a referendum about leaving it. Horáček stated in July 2016 that opposing immigration was "like opposing rain", and added that Czechs have historically helped immigrants. He has expressed opposition to migration quotas and to accepting large numbers of refugees, saying that the Czech Republic should not accept immigrants that Czechs do not want to accept.

Personal life

Horáček is a Roman Catholic. His great-uncle

Jaroslav Heyrovský Jaroslav Heyrovský (; 20 December 1890 – 27 March 1967) was a Czech chemist and inventor who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1959 for his invention of polarography. Life and work Jaroslav Heyrovský was born in Prague on December 2 ...

, a chemist and inventor, became the first Czech recipient of the Nobel Prize in 1959.

Discography

;Studio albums *1987: ''Potměšilý host'' with

Hana Hegerová Hana Hegerová (20 October 1931 – 23 March 2021) was a Slovak singer and actress. Often referred to as the Queen of Czechoslovak chanson, she gained popularity primarily as a singer of chansons. Outside of Czechoslovakia, Hegerová attained r ...

& Petr Hapka *1988: ''V penziónu Svět'' with Petr Hapka *1996: ''Citová investice'' with Petr Hapka *2000: ''Richard Müller a hosté'' with Richard Müller & Jan Saudek *2001: ''Mohlo by tu být i líp'' with Petr Hapka *2003: ''

Tak to chodí ''Tak to chodí'' (''So It Goes'') is a compilation album by Czech recording artists Michal Horáček and Jarda Svoboda, released on B&M Music in 2003. After a series of album projects recorded exclusively in collaboration with Petr Hapka, Horá� ...

'' with Jarda Svoboda *2006: '' Strážce plamene'' with Petr Hapka *2008: '' Ohrožený druh'' *2009: ''Kudykam'' with Petr Hapka *2011: '' Tante Cose da Veder'' with Petr Hapka &

Ondřej Brzobohatý Ondřej () is a Czech given name, equivalent to Andrew, Andreas etc. Notable people with the name include: Sports *Ondřej Bank (born 1980), Czech alpine skier * Ondřej Buchtela (1999–2020), Czech ice hockey player *Ondřej Čelůstka (born 19 ...

*2012: ''

O lásce, cti a kuráži O, or o, is the fifteenth letter and the fourth vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''o'' (pronounced ), ...

'' *2012: ''

Michal Horáček Tribute Michal (; ; ) was, according to the first Book of Samuel, a princess of the United Kingdom of Israel; the younger daughter of King Saul, she was the first wife of David (), who later became king, first of Judah, then of all Israel, making ...

'' *2013: ''

Český kalendář Czech ( ; ), historically known as Bohemian ( ; ), is a West Slavic language of the Czech–Slovak group, written in Latin script. Spoken by over 12 million people including second language speakers, it serves as the official language of the ...

Bibliography

*1983: ''Království za koně'', Olympia *1984: ''Zpráva z Kentucky'', Turf klub SSM *1990: ''Jak pukaly ledy'', Ex libris *1996: ''Los a sázka'', Fortuna *2002: ''Kdo víc vsadí, ten víc bere'' with Ladislav Verecký, Nakladatelství

Lidové noviny ''Lidové noviny'' (''People's News'', or ''The People's Newspaper'', ) is a daily newspaper published in Prague, the Czech Republic. It is the oldest Czech daily still in print, and a newspaper of record. It is a national news daily covering po ...

*2004: ''O české krvi otců vlasti'', Nakladatelství Lidové noviny *2007: ''O tajemství královny krav'', Nakladatelství Lidové noviny *2009: ''Kudykam'', Nakladatelství Lidové noviny *2012: ''Český kalendář'', Nakladatelství Lidové noviny *2012: ''Habitus hazardního hráče'', Nakladatelství Lidové noviny

Awards

References

External links

Michal Horáček
(official website) {{DEFAULTSORT:Horacek, Michal 1952 births Businesspeople from Prague Journalists from Prague Czech philanthropists Candidates in the 2018 Czech presidential election Czech Roman Catholics Czech male poets Czech Roman Catholic writers Living people