| Rudolf Schuster | |
| Office: | 2nd President of Slovakia |
| Term Start: | 15 June 1999 |
| Term End: | 15 June 2004 |
| Primeminister: | Mikuláš Dzurinda |
| Predecessor: | Michal Kováč Mikuláš Dzurinda (Acting) Jozef Migaš (Acting) |
| Successor: | Ivan Gašparovič |
| Office2: | Member of the National Council |
| Term Start2: | 30 October 1998 |
| Term End2: | 15 June 1999 |
| Office3: | Mayor of Košice |
| Term Start3: | 1994 |
| Term End3: | 1999 |
| Term Start4: | 1983 |
| Term End4: | 1986 |
| Office5: | Czechoslovakia Ambassador to Canada |
| Term Start5: | 28 August 1990 |
| Term End5: | 3 May 1992 |
| Predecessor5: | Ján Janovic |
| Successor5: | Position abolished |
| Order6: | Speaker of the National Council |
| Term Start6: | 30 November 1989 |
| Term End6: | 26 June 1990 |
| Predecessor6: | Viliam Šalgovič |
| Successor6: | František Mikloško |
| Birth Date: | 4 January 1934 |
| Birth Place: | Košice, Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia) |
| Party: | Independent (1990–1998, 1999–present) |
| Otherparty: | Communist Party (1964–1990) Party of Civic Understanding (1998–1999) |
| Signature: | Signature of Rudolf Schuster.png |
| Alma Mater: | Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava |
Rudolf Schuster (born 4 January 1934) is a Slovak politician, who served as the second 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.[1] He received only 7.4% of the vote, with three other candidates (more specifically Ivan Gašparovič, Vladimír Mečiar, and Eduard Kukan) receiving more than that. He was succeeded by Ivan Gašparovič.[2]
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 (Slovak: primátor) of Košice in 1983–1986 and 1994–1999 respectively. He was also the last Communist president of the Slovak National Council (1989–1990), Ambassador of Czechoslovakia to Canada (1990–1992) and a leader of the Party of Civic Understanding (SOP – Strana občianskeho porozumenia, 1998–1999).
Schuster speaks German (including Mantak dialect), Slovak, Czech, 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 (died 2008) and he has two children (son Peter and daughter Ingrid) 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, Schuster 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.[3]
In 2004, Schuster sought re-election in the 2004 presidential election and received 7.4% of the votes.
Rudolf Schuster is a member of the Association of Slovak Writers. He has been author of film scripts for various television films. His most famous works are detective novels and travelogues mainly about Brazil and Canada.[4]
| Ribbon bar | Country | Honours | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Honour for Services to the Building[5] | 1983 | ||
| Czechoslovak Order of Labour[6] | 1989 | ||
| First Class of the Pribina Cross[7] | 1998 | ||
| First Class of the Order of Andrej Hlinka[8] | 2019 | ||
| 2019 | |||
| 2019 | |||
| Medal for Services to Slovak Diplomacy[9] | 2023 | ||
| 2024 | |||
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