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Václav Klaus

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Václav Klaus
2nd President of the Czech Republic
In office
7 March 2003 – 7 March 2013
Prime MinisterPetr Nečas
Jan Fischer
Mirek Topolánek
Jiří Paroubek
Stanislav Gross
Vladimír Špidla
Preceded byVáclav Havel
Succeeded byMiloš Zeman
Personal details
Born(1941-06-19)19 June 1941
Prague, Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (now Czech Republic)
Political party19891991 Civic Forum
19912009 ODS
2009–now indepedent
Spouse(s)Livia Klausová
Alma materVysoká škola ekonomická v Praze
Signature
WebsiteVáclav Klaus

Václav Klaus (Czech pronunciation: [ˈvaːtslaf ˈklaus]; born 19 June 1941) is a Czech economist and politician. He was the 2nd President of the Czech Republic from 2003 to 2013. He also served as the second and last Prime Minister of the Czech Republic.[1]

His presidency was very controversial because he did not believe in global warming and because of an amnesty he declared on the 20th anniversary of the creation of the Czech Republic. In the amnesty, Klaus forgave many punishments for investigated crimes and stopped the investigation of others.

Early life

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Klaus was born in Prague during the Nazi occupation and grew up in the Vinohrady neighborhood. Klaus studied "economics of foreign trade" and graduated from University of Economics in Prague in 1963. He also spent some time at universities in Italy (1966) and at Cornell University. He also studied in the United States in 1969.

He soon obtained a position in the Czechoslovak State Bank. In 1987, Klaus joined the Institute for Prognostics of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences. In 1995, as Prime Minister, Klaus was awarded the title of Professor of Finance, so he is sometimes addressed as "Mr. Professor". Since that time Klaus occasionally teaches seminars in economics at the University of Economics.

Political career

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At a congress 1997, Klaus was confirmed as chairman of the ODS. Klaus was elected President of the Czech Republic on 28 February 2003. He won with a majority of 142 votes out of 281.

References

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  1. "Curriculum Vitae of Vaclav Klaus". Office of the President of the Republic. 5 March 2003. Archived from the original on 24 June 2008. Retrieved 10 July 2008.