Přemysl Sobotka

Přemysl Sobotka
Přemysl Sobotka
President of the Senate
	In office; 15 December 2004 – 13 November 2010
President	Václav Klaus
Preceded by	Petr Pithart
Succeeded by	Milan Štěch
Senator from Liberec
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; 23 November 1996
Preceded by	Seat established
Personal details
Born	18 May 1944 (age 80); Mladá Boleslav, Bohemia and Moravia (now Czech Republic)
Political party	Civic Democratic Party
Spouse	Radmila Sobotková (2nd wife)
Children	Věra Sobotková ; Martina Sobotková
Alma mater	Charles University

Přemysl Sobotka (born May 18, 1944 in Mladá Boleslav) is a Czech physician and politician. He was a President of the Senate and ceremonially the second highest representative of the country.

Sobotka was a candidate in Czech presidential election 2013. In the 1st round of the election held in January 2013, he placed 8th with 2,46% (126 846 votes).^[1] He didn't qualify for the second round.

Early life

After the Nazi occupation during World War II his family moved to Liberec where he still lives and where his father was a respected and popular teacher.

Medical career

Sobotka graduated from the Faculty of Medicine of Charles University in 1968 as MUDr. and entered the surgical department of the Liberec Hospital, where he transferred to the X-ray department after two years. From 1991 to 1996 he was a senior consultant and Head of the Radiology Department.

Political career

His political career started in the Velvet Revolution in 1989. He was a member of the „for-all“ Civic Forum and joined the right-wing Civic Democratic Party after its foundation in 1991: he is a chairman of its Liberec regional organisation.

He served as Councillor of the City of Liberec from 1990 to 1998. He was elected member of the Senate for the constituency of Liberec for a shortened term of two years in the first Senate election held in 1996, and re-elected for two full six-year terms in 1998 and 2004. Fellow Senators elected him Vice President of that chamber many times. He was elected President of the Senate for a two-year term on December 15, 2004, and re-elected for another two-year term in 2006.

Family life

He has two daughters from his first marriage, called Věra and Martina. He also has a stepson called Prokop from his second marriage. His wife, Radmila, worked as a nurse.