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Revision as of 21:23, 23 October 2010

Karel Schwarzenberg
(Karl zu Schwarzenberg)

Prince of Schwarzenberg
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Incumbent
Assumed office
13 July 2010
Prime MinisterPetr Nečas
Preceded byJan Kohout
In office
9 January 2007 – 8 May 2009
Prime MinisterMirek Topolánek
Preceded byAlexandr Vondra
Succeeded byJan Kohout
Member of the Chamber of Deputies
Incumbent
Assumed office
May 2010
Senator from 6th District of Prague
In office
November 2004 – May 2010
Head of House of Schwarzenberg
Incumbent
Assumed office
1979
Preceded byJoseph III
Personal details
Born (1937-12-10) 10 December 1937 (age 86)
Prague, Czechoslovakia
Political partyTOP 09
Other political
affiliations		Austrian People's Party
Green Party (not member)
US-DEU (senator)
ODA (defunct)
SpouseTherese Hardegg
Signature

Karel Schwarzenberg (Czech pronunciation: [ˈkarɛl ˈʃvartsn̩bɛrk]) or Karel, Prince of Schwarzenberg (born 10 December 1937 in Prague, Czechoslovakia), is a politician of the Czech Republic, the leader of TOP09 party and the current Minister of Foreign Affairs of the country. He took office as Foreign Minister in July 2010, and also occupied the position from 2007 to 2009. Prince Schwarzenberg is a member of the high nobility of Bohemia and also the current head of the House of Schwarzenberg since 1979.[1]

He is a former Senator from Prague. In May 2010, he was elected a member of the Chamber of Deputies, gaining the largest number of Preference votes.

Background, education and personal life

Karel Schwarzenberg is the eldest son of Prince Karl VI of Schwarzenberg of the junior line and Princess Antonie von Fürstenberg.

Born in Prague, his family fled the country after the Communist coup d'état in 1948 and he grew up in Austria. In the 1960s, he was active in Austrian politics, and he became a leading voice against the communist rule of his native Bohemia after the Prague Spring. He chaired the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights 1984-1991.

The House of Schwarzenberg originates in Franconia, where the family still owns substantial property [citation needed], but made Bohemia their primary seat in the 17th century, also maintaining residences in Vienna. The family had possessed fiefdoms in Bohemia already in the middle ages. It was one of the richest noble families of Bohemia and Austria-Hungary, and one of the largest land owners of Bohemia. Karel Schwarzenberg and his parents had to leave the country after the Communist coup of 1948, and emigrated to Austria, with Swiss citizenship. He studied law and forestry at the universities of Vienna, Munich and Graz.[2] He has two sisters, Marie Eleonore von Bredow (born 1936) and Anna Maria Freifrau von Haxthausen (born 1946), and one brother, Friedrich Prinz zu Schwarzenberg (born 1940).

On 22 April 1967, Schwarzenberg married Countess Therese von Hardegg in Seefeld, Austria. The marriage ended in divorce in 1988. The couple married for the second time on 25 July 2008.[3][4] In marriage were born three children:

  • Johann Nepomucenus Andreas Heinrich Joseph Karl Ferdinand Johannes, Hereditary Prince of Schwarzenberg (b. 12 December 1967)
  • Princess Anna Karolina of Schwarzenberg (b. 16 December 1968)
  • Karl Philipp Ernst Alwig Kilian of Schwarzenberg (b. 12 May 1979) (Adopted by Austrian industrialist and politician Thomas Prinzhorn by agreement 25 November 1987 and registered in Vienna 16 May 1988. On 20 March 1990 began using surname "Prinzhorn".)[5][6][7]

After the fall of the communist regime, he returned to Prague in 1990, although he still visits Austria, where part of his family lives. Karel Schwarzenberg holds Swiss citizenship and Czech citizenship.[8]

Career

Rice and Schwarzenberg at Prague, 8 July 2008

In the 1960s, he was active in the conservative Austrian People's Party and contributed to reforming the party before the Austrian legislative election, 1966. Voices inside the party considered him a possible candidate for the position of Foreign Minister of Austria, the position he would occupy in the Czech Republic decades later.[9]

He soon became active in the resistance against the communist dictatorship in Czechoslovakia and became a prominent human rights advocate. From 1984 to 1991 he was chairman of the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights, and in 1986 he founded the Dokumentationszentrum zur Förderung der unabhängigen tschechoslowakischen Literatur in Scheinfeld, Austria. In 1989, he accepted the European Human Rights Prize on behalf of the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights.

Prince Schwarzenberg is a longtime friend of Václav Havel, and a member of the Forum 2000 foundation.

Between July 1990 and July 1992, he worked as chancellor of Czechoslovak President Václav Havel.

In May 2005, he was expelled from Cuba (together with German MP Arnold Vaatz), where he was due to meet dissidents opposed to the Cuban President Fidel Castro.[10]

Between 9 January 2007 and 9 May 2009, he was Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic in Mirek Topolánek's second coalition government. His nomination by the Green Party caused a small controversy when President Václav Klaus stated that he had strong links to Austria and so would not be able to defend national interests.[11][12] On 8 July 2008, he and the American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice signed an agreement on the United States's Missile shield program.[13]

In the first half of 2009, Schwarzenberg was also the Council President (Responsible national minister) of the European Union. Also in 2009, he and coalition colleague Miroslav Kalousek formed a new Czech political party TOP09, which they led to success in the general elections of 2010, gaining 16% of the vote and representation in the Czech Parliament.

Titles, names and awards

Titles and names

A member of the high nobility of Bohemia, his full name is Karl Johannes Nepomuk Josef Norbert Friedrich Antonius Wratislaw Mena Fürst zu Schwarzenberg. He is generally known as Karl zu Schwarzenberg in German and uses the Czech form of his name, Karel, in Czech.

He is the current 12th Prince of Schwarzenberg, through his adoption by Heinrich Schwarzenberg, the fromer 11th Prince and last male member of the major Schwarzenberg line.[14]

His name and style would be:[15]

Awards

Schwarzenberg is also a regular attendant to the Trilateral Commission and the Bilderberg meetings.

Ancestry

Family of Karel Schwarzenberg
16. Karl III, Prince of Schwarzenberg
8. Karl IV, Prince of Schwarzenberg
17. Princess Wilhelmine of Oettingen-Oettingen and Oettingen-Wallerstein
4. Karl V, Prince of Schwarzenberg
18. Count Frederick Charles Kinsky of Wchinitz and Tettau
9. Countess Maria Theresa Kinsky of Wchinitz and Tettau
19. Countess Sophie of Mensdorff-Pouilly
2. Karl VI, Prince of Schwarzenberg
20. Count Eduard Clam-Gallas
10. Count Francis of Clam and Gallas
21. Countess Clothilde of Dietrichstein-Proskau and Leslie
5. Countess Eleanor of Clam and Gallas
22. Count Ernest Karl of Hoyos-Sprinzenstein
11. Countess Maria of Hoyos-Sprinzenstein
23. Countess Eleanor Paar
1. Karl Johannes, Prince of Schwarzenberg
24. Karl Egon II, Prince of Fürstenberg
12. Maximilian Egon I, Prince of Fürstenberg
25. Princess Amalie Christine of Baden
6. Prince Karl Emil of Fürstenberg
26. Richard, 5th Prince of Khevenhüller-Metsch
13. Countess Leontina Antonie of Khevenhüller-Metsch
27. Countess Antonia Lichnowsky
3. Princess Antonie Leontina of Fürstenberg
28. Count György Festetics de Tolna
14. Count Tassilo Festetics de Tolna
29. Countess Eugénia Erdödy de Monyorókerék et Monoszló
7. Countess Maria Matilda Festetics de Tolna
30. William Hamilton, 11th Duke of Hamilton
15. Lady Mary Victoria Douglas-Hamilton
31. Princess Marie of Baden

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b http://www.praguepost.com/print/4211-schwarzenberg-talks-election.html
  2. ^ http://www.vlada.cz/en/vlada/karel-schwarzenberg-50241/
  3. ^ Royals Portal MAG 2008, by Petra
  4. ^ news.at
  5. ^ http://www.wargs.com/royal/pouilly.html
  6. ^ [1]
  7. ^ [2]
  8. ^ Velinger, Jan (18 January 2007). "Rozhovor pro časopis Instinkt". Instinkt. Retrieved 5 January 2009. 'Jak je to s vaším občanstvím - máte české a švýcarské?' 'Oboje od narození.' (In English: 'What about your citizenship - you have both Czech and Swiss ones?' 'I have both since I was born.')
  9. ^ Paul Lendvai, Mein Österreich - 50 Jahre hinter den Kulissen der Macht, 4th ed., Ecowin Verlag, 2007, ISBN 3-902404-46-9, p. 89
  10. ^ EU politicians expelled from Cuba, BBC.co.uk, 20 May 2005, retrieved 16 October 2009
  11. ^ Klaus, Václav (28 December 2006). "Senátor Schwarzenberg sedí na dvou židlích". euPortál (in Czech language). Retrieved 5 January 2009. Asi se shodneme na tom, že každý náš ministr zahraničí musí jasně, ostře a z vlastního přesvědčení zastávat a hájit zájmy, postoje a priority České republiky. Obávám se však, že něco takového není možné - ale nijak ho za to nekritizuji - očekávat od člověka, který je s naší zemí (...) spojen pouze menší částí svého života. (In English: I think we agree that every Minister of Foreign Affairs of our country must clearly, strongly and by his own will defend interests, opinions and priorities of Czech Republic. However, I am afraid (but I'm not criticizing him) that we cannot expect this from a person who has been connected to our country only for a shorter period in his life (no matter this was not voluntary).{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  12. ^ Velinger, Jan (27 December 2006). "Who's afraid of Karel Schwarzenberg?". Český rozhlas 7. Retrieved 5 January 2009.
  13. ^ Bilefsky, Dan (8 July 2008). "U.S. and Czech Republic sign agreement on missile shield". International Herald Tribune. Retrieved 8 July 2008. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  14. ^ He is the fourth cousin twice removed of Heinrich Schwarzenberg, the 11th Prince of Schwarzenberg [3] [4].
  15. ^ In the Czech Republic, using of noble predicates is prohibited by law No. 61/1918 Sb.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Karel Schwarzenberg.
{S-bef|before=Jan Kohout}}
Karel Schwarzenberg
Cadet branch of the House of Seinsheim
Born: 10 December 1937
Assembly seats
Preceded by Senator for Prague 6
2004–2010 		Vacant
resignation
Political offices
Preceded by Minister of Foreign Affairs
2007–2009 		Succeeded by
Minister of Foreign Affairs Incumbent
Preceded by President of the Council of the European Union
1H 2009 (January–May)

{{S-aft|after=Jan Kohout}

Titles in pretence
Preceded by
The Prince Joseph III
 — TITULAR —
Prince of Schwarzenberg
1979 – present 		Incumbent
Heir:
Hereditary Prince Johann

Template:Persondata

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