Stanislav Gross (1969-2015)  *45

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was a Czech lawyer and politician who was Prime Minister of the Czech Republic from 2004 to 2005. A member of the Czech Social Democratic Party (ČSSD), he served as Minister of the Interior from 2000 to 2004. Stanislav Gross died at the age of 45. Born in Prague, Gross briefly worked for Czechoslovak State Railways (ČSD) as an engine-driver trainee. After the Velvet Revolution in 1989, he became a member of the Social Democratic party and in 1992 member of the parliament. After studies in law from 1993 to 1999 he obtained an academic title, although under less than normal conditions. His thesis had a mere 33 pages. On 5 April 2000 he was named interior minister in the government of Miloš Zeman. After elections in 2002, Gross continued as interior minister and became deputy prime minister in the government of Vladimír Špidla.

During his service, several scandals in the police had leaked out: corruption among the highest officials, irregularities in business tenders and failure to solve serial murders. Gross claimed that this was due to a better ability to discover such behaviour within the police force. Gross was also criticized for installing his friends and allies as executives in state-owned companies and for misuse of secret services for political aims.[2]

In spite of these problems, Gross was able to maintain higher popularity than other politicians (his peak came in at over 70%). His youthful, photogenic appearance, skills in dealing with media and unwillingness to get involved in controversial decisions or discussions helped. Gross died at the age of 45 from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

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