Zuzana Martináková (born 5 May 1961 in

Púchov Púchov (; ) is an industrial town in the centre of Púchov District in Slovakia, with a population close to 18,000. Geography It is located on the main train line between Bratislava and Košice. It is halfway between Trenčín and Žilina, two ...

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 ...

) is a Slovak

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

and a former

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

. She is the

leader Leadership, is defined as the ability of an individual, group, or organization to "", influence, or guide other individuals, teams, or organizations. "Leadership" is a contested term. Specialist literature debates various viewpoints on the co ...

of the

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

Free Forum The Free Forum (, ; "Free" in the sense of "freedom") was a political party in Slovakia, founded in 2004 by dissident parliamentarians from the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ). Zuzana Martináková is the leader of the party. The Fr ...

Life

Martináková is a graduate of the

Comenius University in Bratislava Comenius University Bratislava () 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 named after Jan Amos Comenius, a 17th-century ...

. She has worked for

Slovak Radio Slovak may refer to: * Something from, related to, or belonging to Slovakia (''Slovenská republika'') * Slovaks, a Western Slavic ethnic group * Slovak language, an Indo-European language that belongs to the West Slavic languages * Slovak, Arkan ...

(1988–1993) and for the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

(1993–2001). She joined the

Slovak Democratic and Christian Union Slovak may refer to: * Something from, related to, or belonging to Slovakia (''Slovenská republika'') * Slovaks, a Western Slavic ethnic group * Slovak language, an Indo-European language that belongs to the West Slavic languages * Slovak, Arkan ...

(SDKÚ) and after Slovak parliamentary election in 2002 became the

vice president A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

of the

National Council of the Slovak Republic The National Council of the Slovak Republic (, abbreviated to ''NR SR'') is the national parliament of Slovakia. It is unicameralism, unicameral and consists of 150 members, who are elected by universal suffrage under proportional representation ...

. She was number five on the SDKU's list. In January 2004, Martináková left the SDKÚ after frictions with

Mikuláš Dzurinda Mikuláš Dzurinda (; born 4 February 1955) is a Slovak politician who was the prime minister of Slovakia from 30 October 1998 to 4 July 2006. Dzurinda is the founder and leader of the Slovak Democratic Coalition (SDK) and then the Slovak Democr ...

, founded a new political party named Free Forum and was elected the party leader. In Slovak parliamentary election in 2006, the party did not join the Slovak Parliament (got only 3.47%; minimum 5% was required). Zuzana Martináková is married (her husband Marián Bednár is a director of the Department of Communication of the Office of the President

Ivan Gašparovič Ivan Gašparovič (; ; born 27 March 1941) is a Slovakia, Slovak politician and lawyer who was the third president of Slovakia from 2004 to 2014. He was also the first and currently the only Slovak president to be re-elected. Biography Ivan Ga� ...

) and she is a mother of three sons – Michal, Juraj and Tomáš.

References

1961 births Living people People from Púchov Slovak Democratic and Christian Union – Democratic Party politicians Free Forum politicians Members of the National Council (Slovakia) 2002-2006 Candidates for President of Slovakia Women members of the National Council (Slovakia) 21st-century Slovak women politicians {{Slovakia-politician-stub