View source for Petr Pithart

{{Short description|Czech politician, lawyer and political scientist}}
{{BLP sources|date=November 2007}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|honorific-prefix   =
|name               = Petr Pithart
|honorific-suffix   =
|image              = Petr Pithart 2023 Praha.jpg
|imagesize          =
|smallimage         =
|caption            = Pithart in 2023
|office             = [[Prime Minister of the Czech Republic]] {{small|''(Federal region)''}}
|president          = [[Václav Havel]]
|term_start         = 6 February 1990
|term_end           = 2 July 1992
|predecessor        = [[František Pitra]]
|successor          = [[Václav Klaus]]
|office1            = [[President of the Senate of the Czech Republic|President of the Czech Senate]]
|term_start1        = 8 January 1996
|term_end1          = 16 November 1998
|predecessor1       = ''Office established''
|successor1         = [[Libuše Benešová]]
|term_start2        = 19 December 2000
|term_end2          = 15 December 2004
|predecessor2       = [[Ivan Havlíček]] (acting)
|successor2         = [[Přemysl Sobotka]]
|office3            = [[Senate of the Czech Republic|Senator]] from [[Chrudim]]
|term_start3        = 23 November 1996
|term_end3          = 28 October 2012
|predecessor3       = ''Office established''
|successor3         = [[Jan Veleba (politician)|Jan Veleba]]
|birth_date         = {{birth date and age|1941|1|2|df=y}}
|birth_place        = [[Kladno]], [[Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia]]
|death_date         =
|death_place        =
|restingplace       =
|restingplacecoordinates =
|birthname          =
|nationality        = Czech
|party              = [[Communist Party of Czechoslovakia|KSČ]] (1959-68) <br /> [[Civic Forum|OF]] (1989-91) <br /> [[Civic Movement|OH]] (1991-92) <br /> [[Christian and Democratic Union - Czechoslovak People's Party|KDU–ČSL]] (since 1998)
|otherparty         =  <!--For additional political affiliations-->
|spouse             =  Drahomíra Hromádková
|partner            =  <!--For those with a domestic partner and not married-->
|relations          =
|children           = David <br /> Klára
|residence          =
|alma_mater         = [[Charles University]]
|occupation         = [[Lawyer]]
|profession         =
|cabinet            =
|committees         =
|portfolio          =
|signature          =
|website            = [http://www.pithart.cz pithart.cz]
|footnotes          =
}}
'''Petr Pithart''' (born 2 January 1941) is a [[Czech Republic|Czech]] politician, lawyer and political scientist who served as [[Prime Minister of the Czech Republic]] (then a federal region of [[Czechoslovakia]]) from 6 February 1990 to 2 July 1992. He was also the [[Senate of the Czech Republic|Senator]] for [[Chrudim]] from 1996 to 2012 and served as [[President of the Senate of the Czech Republic|President of the Senate]] from 8 January 1996 to 16 December 1998 and again from 19 December 2000 to 15 December 2004.

On 1 January 2018 Pithart received the [[Order of the White Double Cross]] state award (second class) from [[President of Slovakia|Slovak President]] [[Andrej Kiska]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Slováci na výročí vyznamenávali. I Čechy Kubišovou a Pitharta|url=https://zpravy.idnes.cz/slovensko-vyznamenani-cesko-marta-kubisova-petr-pithart-martin-simecka-1oy-/domaci.aspx?c=A180101_194247_domaci_amu|website=iDNES.cz|access-date=2 January 2018|date=1 January 2018}}</ref>

==Political career==
Pithart was a member of the [[Communist Party of Czechoslovakia]] from 1960, was active in the [[Prague Spring]], and left the party after the Soviet invasion. He was later one of the most prominent [[dissident]]s against the communist regime, and was imprisoned for his activities, including being one of the first signatories of [[Charter 77]]. In 1989 he was one of the prominent leaders of the [[Civic Forum]], founded at the start of the [[Velvet Revolution]]. Having participated in the negotiations leading to changes to the federal, Czech and Slovak governments, he was appointed Prime Minister of the Czech Socialist Republic.

Pithart is often characterised{{who|date=August 2018}} as a philosopher and thinker, rather than a tactical or charismatic leader.{{citation needed|date=August 2018}} His 1990-92 Czech government was unable to deal with the growing power of federal Finance Minister [[Václav Klaus]] and his increasingly popular [[Civic Democratic Party (Czech Republic)|Civic Democratic Party]], nor growing Slovak nationalism, which culminated in the [[dissolution of Czechoslovakia]] and defeat for Pithart's [[Civic Movement]] party.

Pithart was unsuccessful in his bid to become [[President of the Czech Republic]] at the [[2003 Czech presidential election|2003 election]], losing to Václav Klaus.

In 1998 Pithart joined the [[Christian and Democratic Union - Czechoslovak People's Party]].<ref name="cv">{{Cite web|url=http://www.pithart.cz/zivotopis.pp|title = Senátní volby 1. Kolo 2018: Kandidáti a výsledky &#124; BetArena.cz}}</ref> He was elected as senator in 1996, and re-elected in 2000 and 2006. He was the First Deputy Chairman of the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic from 2004 to 2012.<ref name="cv"/> He retired in 2012.

== References ==
<references />

==External links==
{{Commons category-inline}}
* {{in lang|cs}} http://www.pithart.cz – Official site

{{Petr Pithart}}
{{Speaker of the Senate of the Czech Republic elections}}
{{Candidates in the Czech presidential election, 2003}}
{{CZ-Senate-Speakers}}
{{Pithart Cabinet}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pithart, Petr}}
[[Category:1941 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Charter 77 signatories]]
[[Category:Czech prisoners and detainees]]
[[Category:Members of the Senate of the Czech Republic]]
[[Category:Czechoslovak prisoners and detainees]]
[[Category:Politicians from Kladno]]
[[Category:Czech political scientists]]
[[Category:Prime ministers of the Czech Republic]]
[[Category:Prisoners and detainees of Czechoslovakia]]
[[Category:Communist Party of Czechoslovakia politicians]]
[[Category:KDU-ČSL senators]]
[[Category:People of the Velvet Revolution]]
[[Category:Grand Crosses with Star and Sash of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany]]
[[Category:Candidates in the 2003 Czech presidential election]]
[[Category:KDU-ČSL presidential candidates]]
[[Category:Civic Forum politicians]]
[[Category:Civic Movement prime ministers]]
[[Category:Civic Movement MPs]]
[[Category:Charles University alumni]]
[[Category:Presidents of the Senate of the Czech Republic]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of the White Lion]]