Dzamil Stehlikova

Dzamil Stehlikova

Date of Birth: 06.02.1962

Content:
  1. Early Life and Education
  2. Professional Career
  3. Political Activism
  4. Minister for Human Rights and Minorities
  5. Subsequent Political Career

Early Life and Education

Jamila Stehlíková was born on February 6, 1962, in Alma-Ata, Kazakhstan. Her father, Almas Baimukhanovich Ordabeov, was an architect, and her mother, Rauza Abdykhamitovna Sembaeva, was a chemist whose father had been the Minister of Education of the Kazakh SSR.

In 1986, Stehlíková graduated from the First Moscow State Medical University named after I. M. Sechenov in Moscow with a degree in psychiatry.

Professional Career

Stehlíková worked as a research assistant and taught at the Department of Psychiatry at the Psychiatric Clinic named after S. S. Korsakov at the First Moscow State Medical University from 1985 to 1988. After relocating to Czechoslovakia in 1988, she became a psychiatrist at the Chomutov Regional Health Center.

From 1990 to 1997, Stehlíková held leading positions at the National Center for Health Protection in Prague and the National Institute of Health in Prague. She also taught at the University of Jan Evangelista Purkyně in Ústí nad Labem from 1998 to 2006.

Since 1998, Stehlíková has maintained a private psychiatric practice, specializing in comprehensive medical and psychosocial care for HIV-positive individuals and AIDS patients.

Political Activism

While studying and working in Moscow, Stehlíková distributed the works of dissident poets Vladislav Khodasevich and Joseph Brodsky. Her political activities resulted in her being denied permission to travel abroad, even for scientific conferences. An investigation into her "anti-Soviet" activities was terminated in 1988 amid the glasnost and perestroika reforms.

After moving to Czechoslovakia in 1988, Stehlíková became involved in environmental protection and advocated for the rights of national minorities. She was elected to the Chomutov municipal council in 1998 and served continuously until 2010. In 1998, she joined the Green Party and was elected its regional chairperson in the Ústí nad Labem Region and deputy chairperson of the Green Party. She left the party in 2014 due to its shift away from its core values.

Minister for Human Rights and Minorities

Stehlíková served as the Minister for Human Rights and Minorities in the Czech government from January 2007 to January 2009. She was the first minister of non-Czech origin in the Czech Republic's history. Among her accomplishments in this role were the establishment of an agency for social integration in Roma communities and the development of anti-stalking and anti-discrimination legislation.

Subsequent Political Career

After leaving government, Stehlíková joined the Liberal Ecological Party and was elected to its leadership at its founding congress in 2014. She is a member of the State Government Council for Human Rights Committee on Sexual Minorities. In 2016, she was awarded the "bePROUD" award for her contributions to LGBT rights.

On June 24, 2021, Stehlíková was elected chairperson of the Liberal Ecological Party.

© BIOGRAPHS