Juraj Králik

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Juraj Králik
Born 26 July 1926
Košice, Slovakia
Died 24 September 2012

JUDr. Ing. Juraj Králik, CSc. (26 July 1926 – 24 September 2012) was a Slovak diplomat and writer, who has held the function of an advisor to the UN secretary general and contributed significantly to the development of Slovak folk dance.[1]

Life

Juraj Králik was born in 1926 in Košice. 10 years later, after the Vienna Award, his family moved to Michalovce. The family was relatively well connected socially. Králik's early upbringing was influenced by frequent visits by important personalities from among the Lutheran intelligentsia (Milan Hodža, Martin Rázus, general Ferdinand Čatloš, Elo Šándor) and various ministers.

During his studies in Michalovce Juraj Králik became a member of the Zemplín folk group. He was later conscripted for the First Czechoslovak army group and accepted into a reserve officer school. Later he continued his studies in Bratislava at the University of Economics and the Comenius University Law School (he graduated with honors in 1949). He has also studied opera singing. Juraj Králik speaks several foreign languages, but has passed state-level exams from 6 of them.

On September 1, 2006 the president Ivan Gašparovič awarded Juraj Králik with the Order of Ľudovít Štúr 1st class for exceptional contribution to the area of foreign policy.

Diplomatic career

After finishing his studies, Juraj Králik begins working at the Legal Philosophy Institute as an assistant and later at the Legal Theory Institute as its acting head. Since 1953 he has, however, started working full-time in the area of diplomacy and is sent on his first foreign mission. From 1953 until 1960 he worked at the Czechoslovak embassy in Budapest, as a responsible for political intelligence. The prognoses based on his reports showed to be very accurate. At the age of 30 and having the rank of the 1st Secretary, Juraj Králik receives a state award for excellent work.

From 1963 until 1971 he held the post of an ambassador to the UN, where he worked as the chairman of one of the committees of the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva.

In 1968 Králik's career was interrupted for 20 years, and he leaves to work out of the spotlight in the UN Center for Environmental Protection, the Radio ecology and Nuclear Technology Usage Institute in Košice, and the Hydro meteorological Institute of Milan Rastislav Štefánik in Bratislava.

After the change of the regime, Juraj Králik returns into active diplomacy and between 1990 - 1993 returns to his former function of an ambassador to the UN. At the same time, until 1994 he works at the post of a special adviser for disarmament under two UN secretaries general (Javier Pérez de Cuéllar and Boutros Boutros-Ghali).

Králik has also held the post of the Chairman of the Board of the Slovak National Center for Human Rights, the President of the International UN Society in Slovakia, an advisor to minister Eduard Kukan, and has created a proposal for the creation of a Štefan OsuskýDiplomatic Academy in Bratislava. He teaches at the School of International Relations of the University of Economics in Bratislava and the Comenius University Law School.

Contribution to the artistic life in Slovakia

In 1948 Juraj Králik contributed to the creation of the folk dance group Lúčnica and is considered to be one of its founders. He has also contributed to the creation of the SĽUK.

He paints aquarels depicting the life of people in the Zemplín region, dedicates his time to singing, sport, and playing piano.

Work

Juraj Králik has written 13 books, including the following:

  • Karierny diplomat (A Professional Diplomat) - 2006
  • Letokruhy diplomacie (Diplomacy Chronicles) - 2003
  • Medovňik - ľubovňik abo Každy to kvitočok svuj makortet najdze - Zemlínska rapsódia
  • Trójsky kôň civilizácie (The Troyan Horse of Civillization)
  • Lúčnica-moja láska (Lúčnica - My Love)
  • Na Zemplíne [libreto k opere] (In Zemplín [opera libretto])

References

  1. ↑ "Mesto Michalovce". Michalovce.sk. Retrieved 2013-09-22. 

Sources

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