Jan Kavan - Biography

Biography

Kavan was born in London, the son of a Czech diplomat, Pavel Kavan, and a British teacher, Rosemary Kavan. His father was arrested and tried in a Czech show trial in the 1950s; his mother later wrote a memoir, Love and Freedom.

He is a member of the Czech Social Democratic Party (ČSSD). He was the foreign minister of the Czech Republic from 1998 until 2002, a deputy prime minister from 1999 until 2002. He was a member of the Federal Assembly from 1990 till 1992. member of the Senate from 1996 till 2000 and a member of the Chamber of Deputies from 2002 till 2006. He was also the President of the United Nations General Assembly from 2002 until 2003. Before returning to former Czechoslovakia after the fall of the Communist government, Jan Kavan spent 20 years in exile in the UK. While in exile he was the editor of the Palach Press press agency, editor of the East European Reporter and Vice-President of the East European Cultural Foundation. Kavan was accused in 1991 of collaboration with Czechoslovak secret service (StB). He was totally cleared by the Prague court in 1994 and finally by the appeal court in January 1996. He received several honorary degrees, including Honorary Fellow of the LSE,London and Honorary Professor of Human Rights, Adelphi University, New York and a number of human rights awards including Companion of Honour (UK), International Order of Merit (UK), Presidential Roll of Honor (USA).

Kavan was educated at the Charles University in Prague, the London School of Economics and the University of Reading. He is divorced and has four children.