Miloš Zeman

In 1963 he graduated from the Secondary School of Economics in Kolín. At the same time, there was a risk that he would be denied the opportunity to take the school-leaving exam because of a paper in which he celebrated Karel Čapek's book Conversations with T. G. Masaryk, the publication of which was restricted by the communist regime. In the end, he was admitted to the school-leaving exam, but he was not issued a recommendation to study at university. Zeman later accused his Czech language teacher of this procedure, but she denied guilt. After graduating from high school, he worked in the accounting department of the Tatra Kolín plant. His co-workers later recalled that he did not enjoy this job and was dismissive of others. Thanks to his experience in the Tatra plant, he received a recommendation for further studies after two years. In addition, due to a heart defect, he received the so-called blue book and did not have to complete basic military service. In 1965, he began distance learning at the Faculty of Economics of the University of Economics in Prague, where he studied national economic planning, and two years later he switched to full-time study, which he completed in 1969. Subsequently, he also taught there for a year. During his studies, he lived in the Jarov dormitory. He also co-founded the discussion Student Futurology Club and was an assistant to the scientific force of Professor Pavel Hrubý. He wrote his diploma thesis with Professor Věněk Šilhán. His acquaintances at the time considered him a gifted student, and also a conceited loner.

In August 1989, he published an article critical of the communist regime in the Technical Magazine. During the Velvet Revolution, he became involved in the activities of the Civic Forum and became one of the speakers on Letná Plain. In January 1990, he was co-opted into the Federal Assembly. From 1993 to 2001 he served as chairman of the Czech Social Democratic Party. From 1996 to 1998 he held the position of Chairman of the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic and for the next four years he was the Prime Minister of a minority Social Democratic government, the existence of which was made possible on the basis of the so-called "opposition agreement" with the Civic Democratic Party.

After an unsuccessful candidacy for the presidency of the Czech Republic in 2003, he retired from politics for seven years. In March 2010, he became the chairman of the newly founded Citizens' Rights Party ZEMANOVCI. He resigned after the 2010 parliamentary elections, in which the party did not get into the Chamber of Deputies.

In the direct election in 2013, he was elected the third president of the Czech Republic and at the same time the first Czech president elected by direct election. He won the first round and in the decisive second round he defeated the then Minister of Foreign Affairs Karel Schwarzenberg. He decided to defend his presidential post in the following presidential elections in 2018, in which he advanced to the second round with Jiří Drahoš. He won with 51.36% of the vote and defended the presidency for a second five-year term.