Rudolf Schuster


Rudolf Schuster was President of Slovakia from 1999 to 2004. He was elected on 29 May 1999 and inaugurated on 15 June. In the presidential elections of April 2004, in which he sought re-election, Schuster was defeated. He received only 7.4% of the vote, with three other candidates receiving more than that. He was succeeded by Ivan Gašparovič.

Life and career

Schuster was born in Košice. From 1964 to 1990, he was a member of the Communist Party of Slovakia. Before becoming President, he was Mayor of Košice in 1983–1986 and 1994–1999 respectively. He was also the last Communist president of the Slovak National Council, Ambassador of Czechoslovakia to Canada and a leader of the Party of Civic Understanding.
He speaks Slovak, Czech, German, Russian, English, and Hungarian fluently.
Schuster's father's family is of Carpathian German origin, while his mother's family is of Hungarian origin. Rudolf Schuster was married in 1961 to Irena Trojáková and he has two children and two granddaughters. In his private life, he is a sports fan, a traveller and a writer. He is also a camera fan.
In 1998 he founded the centre-left Party of Civic Understanding.
In 1999 he received honorary citizenship from Miskolc, as recognition of the good cooperation between the city and Košice during his mayorship.
In 2004, Schuster sought re-election in the 2004 presidential election and received 7.4% of the votes.

Honours and awards