List of presidents of the Czech Republic

The Czech Republic is a parliamentary representative democracy, with the president acting as head of state and the prime minister acting as head of government.

The first president of the Czech Republic was Václav Havel. The current president, Petr Pavel, was sworn into office on 9 March 2023 - 2 January 2024 Until 2012, the president was elected by the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, for a term lasting five years. Since 2013 the president is elected by popular vote.

Presidents of the Czech Republic

Parties

  Independent   ODS   SPO

	Portrait	President (Birth–Death)	Took office	Left office	Party	Term	Previous office(s)
1		Václav Havel (1936–2011)	2 February 1993	2 February 2003	Independent	1 (1993)	President of the Czech and Slovak Federative Republic (1989–1992)
						2 (1998)
2		Václav Klaus (born 1941)	7 March 2003	7 March 2013	Civic Democratic Party (ODS)	3 (2003)	Prime Minister (1992–1998) President of the Chamber of Deputies (1998–2002)[1]
						4 (2008)
3		Miloš Zeman (born 1944)	8 March 2013	8 March 2023	Party of Civic Rights (SPO)	5 (2013)	President of the Chamber of Deputies (1996–1998)[2] Prime Minister (1998–2002)
						6 (2018)
4		Petr Pavel (born 1961)	9 March 2023	Incumbent	Independent	7 (2023)	Chief of the General Staff (2012–2015) Chairman of the NATO Military Committee (2015–2018)

Timeline

Languages spoken by the presidents of the Czech Republic

All four presidents of the Czech Republic, have shown proficiency in languages other than Czech. All presidents were so far fluent in English and Russian language. Václav Klaus was the president proficient in most languages.

Václav Havel

Václav Havel spoke some English and used it repeatedly during his tenure as a President as he was reading several speeches in English.^[3] Havel most notably used his English when he gave a speech to a Joint session of the United States Congress on 21 February 1990 which he started in English but after few sentences he continued in Czech and the speech was translated by Michael Žantovský, then spokesman of Občanské fórum.^[4] Žantovský later jokingly claimed that Havel made his famous speech only to him and it was him, Žantovský, who actually spoke to US Congress.^[5] Havel also knew Russian language which he learned at school.^[6]

Václav Klaus

Václav Klaus is fluent in English, Russian, German and Italian languages.^[6] He published number of publications in English and German languages. Klaus stated that his proficiency with foreign languages was helped by studies of International trade at Prague University of Economics and Business, where he was required to learn at least three foreign languages.^[7]

Miloš Zeman

Miloš Zeman is fluent in English, Russian and German. He used English and Russian during his tenure while talking to foreign politicians.^[8][9]

Petr Pavel

Petr Pavel is fluent in English, Russian and French.^[6] Pavel reportedly knew English language well since his youth which helped his career in the army as only few people there knew the language.^[10] Pavel learned French during an intelligence course in 1988-89.^[11]

Comparison table

President	English	Russian	German	French	Italian
Václav Havel	Fluent	Fluent
Václav Klaus	Fluent	Fluent	Fluent	Fluent	Fluent
Miloš Zeman	Fluent	Fluent	Fluent
Petr Pavel	Fluent	Fluent		Fluent

See also

• List of rulers of Czechs
• List of presidents of Czechoslovakia
• List of prime ministers of Czechoslovakia
• List of prime ministers of the Czech Socialist Republic
• List of rulers of the Protectorate Bohemia and Moravia
• List of prime ministers of the Czech Republic
• Lists of incumbents

References

1. "Prof. Ing. Václav Klaus, CSc". Poslanecká sněmovna Parlament České republiky. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
2. "Ing. Miloš Zeman". Poslanecká sněmovna Parlament České republiky. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
3. Cemper, Jan (21 May 2020). "HOAX: Václav Havel neuměl žádný jazyk a kam to dotáhnul". Manipulátoři.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 13 March 2024.
4. Oppelt, Robert (21 February 2020). "Havlův velký americký triumf. Před 30 lety mu Kongres aplaudoval vestoje". iDNES.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 13 March 2024.
5. Šídlo, Jindřich (22 February 2020). "Co se tehdy dělo, bylo tak absurdní! Václav Havel před 30 lety v Kongresu". Seznam Zprávy (in Czech). Seznam.cz, a.s. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
6. Horáček, Filip. "Petr Pavel ve srovnání s ostatními prezidenty. Zlatá střední cesta a naprostý průměr". Reflex.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 13 March 2024.
7. "Klaus zkouší nového ministra z jazyků". iDNES.cz (in Czech). 14 March 2003. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
8. "Na 'tituly' mezi kandidáty vede Drahoš, jazyky akcentuje Horáček". Lidovky.cz (in Czech). 7 January 2018. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
9. Břešťan, Robert (11 May 2015). "Klaus, Zeman, Putin: muži, kteří si spolu rozumějí. I bez tlumočníka". HlídacíPes.org (in Czech). Retrieved 13 March 2024.
10. Sokol, Petr. "Petr Pavel: Život generála, který může být prezidentem ČR". Reflex.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 13 March 2024.
11. Fridrichovský, Jan (22 November 2022). "Petr Pavel před Listopadem a po něm". CEDMO (in Czech). Retrieved 13 March 2024.

External links

• The Czech constitution. Articles 54-66 are particularly relevant to the presidency.
• The official site of Prague Castle