Martin Bútora (born October 7, 1944 in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia) is a Slovak sociologist,[1] writer, university professor and diplomat.
In November 1989 he was a founding member of the political movement Public Against Violence, the leading movement of the democratic revolution in Slovakia.[2] He was the human rights advisor to the former president of Czechoslovakia Václav Havel[3] from 1990 to 1992.[2] In the first half of the 1990s he taught at the Charles University of Prague and at the Trnava University. In 1997 he co-founded the Institute for Public Affairs where he served as its first president. He was the Slovak Ambassador to the United States from 1999 to 2003.[4]
His sociological work focuses on international politics, transatlantic relations, human rights, and minorities.
In 1999 National Endowment for Democracy based in Washington, D.C. awarded him with the Democracy Service Medal. In 2000 he received the Ján Papánek medal and in 2002 a Celebration of Freedom Award by the American Jewish Committee. In the same year, he received the Ľudovít Štúr Order for his contribution to defense of human rights and development of civil society from the hands of the President of Slovakia.
Bútora placed 6th in the 2004 presidential election, receiving 6.5% of the vote.