Antonín Baudyš

Antonín Baudyš (9 September 1946 – 24 August 2010) was a Czech academic and politician who served as defense minister from 1993 to 1994. He was the first defense minister of the Czech Republic.[1]

Antonín Baudyš
A. Baudys in 2010
Minister of Defense
In office
January 1993 – 22 September 1994
Prime MinisterVáclav Klaus
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byVilem Holan
Deputy Prime Minister
In office
1989 – July 1992
Personal details
Born9 September 1946
Prague
Died24 August 2010 (aged 63)
NationalityCzech
Political partyCzechoslovak People's Party
Christian Democratic Union - Czechoslovak People's Party
Alma materCzech Technical University

Early life and education

Baudyš was born in Prague on 9 September 1946.[2][3] He studied mechanical engineering[1] and graduated from the Czech Technical University (CVUT).[3]

Career

Baudyš worked as a university professor at his alma mater, CVUT, until 1989.[1][3] He became a member of the Czechoslovak People's Party (CSL) in 1970.[3] He was named deputy prime minister in 1989 shortly after the fall of communist regime and held the post until July 1992.[3] He was appointed defense minister to the coalition cabinet led by Prime Minister Václav Klaus in January 1993.[4] The ministry was formed with his appointment.[5] He was a member of the Christian Democratic Union-Czechoslovak People's Party (KDU-CSL).[6] On 22 September 1994, Vilém Holáň of KDU-CSL replaced Baudyš in the post.[7]

Following his removal from office, he worked as a businessman[8] and a popular astrologist.[3]

Activities

One of his first acts as defence minister was to begin the process of purging society of hard-line communists and informers.[1] He stated his aim as defense minister to transform the ministry into "an integrated civilian-military institution".[9] During his tenure Baudyš was informed that the Czech army had had pathogens.[10] He ordered the destruction of them due to the fact that they were no longer necessary.[10]

Personal life and death

Baudyš married twice. He had two sons from his first marriage.[3] In May 2010, he divorced his first wife and married a woman who was 23 years younger than him.[3]

He died at age 63 on 24 August 2010.[3]

References
  1. Marybeth Peterson Ulrich (1999). Democratizing Communist Militaries: The Cases of the Czech and Russian Armed Forces (PDF). University of Michigan Press. p. 85. ISBN 978-0-472-10969-2.
  2. Brokl, Lubomir; Zdenka Mansfeldová (December 1994). "Czech Republic". European Journal of Political Research. 26 (3–4): 269–277. doi:10.1111/j.1475-6765.1994.tb00446.x.
  3. "Baudys held high posts in Czechoslovak, Czech govts in 1990s". Europe Intelligence Wire. Prague. Czech News Agency. 24 August 2010.
  4. Andrew A. Michta (1 January 1999). America's New Allies: Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic in NATO. University of Washington Press. p. 135. ISBN 978-0-295-80376-0.
  5. Vesselin Dimitrov; Klaus H. Goetz; Hellmut Wollmann (2006). Governing After Communism: Institutions and Policymaking. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 131. ISBN 978-0-7425-4009-5.
  6. Tomas Kellner (28 September 1994). "Sacked Defense Minister Opens Old Wounds". The Prague Post. Archived from the original on 26 August 2013.
  7. Jeffrey Simon (1996). NATO Enlargement and Central Europe: A Study in Civil-military Relations. DIANE Publishing. p. 221. ISBN 978-1-4289-8158-4.
  8. Philip Shenon (19 October 1996). "Czechs Say They Warned U.S. of Chemical Weapons in Gulf". The New York Times.
  9. Natalie Mychajlyszyn; Harald Von Riekhoff (2004). The Evolution of Civil-military Relations in East-Central Europe and the Former Soviet Union. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 52. ISBN 978-0-313-31562-6.
  10. Mark Wheelis; Lajos Rózsa (2009). Deadly Cultures: Biological Weapons since 1945. Harvard University Press. p. 162. ISBN 978-0-674-04513-2.
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