THE SLOVAK PRESIDENT AWARDS A STATE DECORATION TO PROFESSOR LADISLAV KOVÁČ FROM THE FACULTY OF NATURAL SCIENCES
A ceremonial awarding of state decorations took place on 9 January 2017 in the Knights’ Hall at Bratislava Castle. In the presence of Slovakia’s three highest constitutional authorities, awards were received by twenty people. Among the recipients was Professor Emeritus Ladislav Kováč from the Faculty of Natural Sciences at Comenius University in Bratislava, who received the Pribina Cross (2nd Class) from President Andrej Kiska for his many years of exceptional work in education and in developing Slovak society.
The list of recipients included such luminaries as the historian Ivan Kamenec (Order of Ľudovít Štúr [1st Class]), who is also an external teacher at the CU Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences; Juraj Hromkovič (Pribina Cross [1st Class]), an IT specialist and university teacher who used to work at the CU Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Informatics; Ilona Németh (Pribina Cross [2nd Class]), a leader in contemporary Slovak visual arts; the lawyer and judge Jaroslav Krajčo (Pribina Cross [1st Class]); the literary historian Augustín Maťovčík (Pribina Cross [2nd Class]); the musician, civic activist, and politician Michael Kocáb (Order of the White Double Cross [2nd Class]); the artist, director, and teacher Martin Huba (Order of Ľudovít Štúr [2nd Class]), and the actress Zita Furková (Pribina Cross [2nd Class]).
“It is an honour and a great pleasure for me, in the name of the Slovak Republic, to recognize twenty people for their exceptional lifelong work for our nation. Thanks to your tireless work, special talent, personal courage, exceptional professionalism, and your everyday endeavours, Slovakia is a more beautiful, intelligent, inventive, and just country, and it smiles more. We are here to celebrate your lives and your work, which does our country proud both at home and abroad,” said the President of the Slovak Republic, Andrej Kiska, at the ceremony. “Your work, your results, and your activity are all the true spring of wealth for our society and an exceptional contribution to our country’s development. You are an inspiration and model for us, a source of joy and knowledge, and a real reason for us all to be proud of the Slovak Republic,” the president added.
***
Professor Ladislav Kováč was born in 1932 in Závažná Poruba. He graduated in biochemistry from Charles University in Prague. A large part of his working life is connected with the Department of Biochemistry at the Faculty of Natural Sciences at Comenius University in Bratislava, where he was an assistant professor, associate professor, head of department, and a full professor. From 1989 to 1990 he was the Minister of Education, Youth Affairs, and Physical Education in the interim government of national understanding. In 1991 and 1992 he was the ambassador of the Czech and Slovak Federative Republic to UNESCO in Paris.
A full list of the recipients can be found at: www.prezident.sk