Michael Zantovsky

Background

About Michael Zantovsky

Ambassador (ret.) Michael Zantovsky is a Czech diplomat, author, politician, psychologist and consultant with half a century of experience in behavioral research, public affairs and public advocacy. He is a well-known public figure in the Czech Republic and internationally. He is a Senior Advisor in Albright Stonebridge Group, a global business strategy firm based in Washington, D.C, United States and a Senior Fellow at the Prague Center for Transatlantic Relations. He is an external foreign policy advisor to the President of the Czech Republic, Petr Pavel. Since 2015, he served as the Executive Director of the Václav Havel Library in Prague, a legacy institution modeled after the US Presidential Libraries and Museums, following a distinguished public service career. He left his post on June 1, 2023 to focus on consulting, teaching and writing. He was the first Spokesman, Press Secretary and Political Director to President Václav Havel following the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia in 1989. He was also the Spokesman for the Civic Forum, the umbrella organization that coordinated the revolutionary events. He served as the Czech Ambassador to the United States (1992-1997), Israel (2003-2009) and the United Kingdom (2009-2015). From 1996-2002 he was a Senator of the Czech Parliament and chairman of its Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defense and Security. He was twice elected as the leader of the Civic Democratic Alliance, a liberal conservative party in the governing coalition. He has been a prolific author, translator, journalist, and educator, having translated more than 60 volumes of prose, poetry, drama and non-fiction into Czech. His 2014 biography of his longtime friend Havel: A Life was published in English, Czech and more than a dozen other languages. He has been awarded the 2016 Czech and Slovak Trans-Atlantic Award and the 2018 Foreign Minister's Medal for Meritorious Service to Diplomacy. He has taught strategic American studies and Euro-American relations at Charles University, the New York University in Prague and the CEVRO and CERGE institutes. From 2012-2016 he was President of Aspen Institute Prague and is currently the Honorary President of Aspen Institute Central Europe. From 1973-1981 Mr. Zantovsky worked as a research fellow in the Prague Psychiatric Research Institute, specializing in the fields of non-verbal behavior and theory of motivation. He studied psychology at Charles University, Prague and McGill University, Montreal. He graduated with an M.A. summa cum laude in 1973.