Katerina Jacques

Katerina Jacques

Date of Birth: 02.06.1971

Content:
  1. Early Life and Education
  2. Political Career
  3. Assault Incident

Early Life and Education

Katarina Jacques, born in Melnik, Czechoslovakia, is the daughter of photographer Ota Payer and the niece of documentary photographer Alan Payer. After graduating high school in 1990, she traveled to Germany, where she worked and studied at the Free University of Berlin. She married French citizen Christian Jacques and lived with him in Strasbourg, France, where she continued her education. She briefly used the double surname Jacques-Payerova, but later changed it to Jacques after Czech legislation changed. Jacques and Christian have two children, Nina and Sebastian-Maximilian.

From 1994 to 2002, Jacques studied political science and German at Charles University in Prague. She worked as a translator and defended her master's thesis on Frantisek Palacky's interpretation of Czech history. As a German Academic Exchange Service scholar, she earned a doctorate in political science in 2006.

Political Career

Jacques entered government service in 2003 and became the secretary to Deputy Prime Minister Pavel Nemec in 2005. She subsequently headed the Department for Human Rights and Equal Opportunities. Her campaign against racism and for Romani rights in 2005 drew both praise and criticism.

Jacques became a Green Party member in 2005 and was elected to the party's Central Auditing Committee. In the 2006 parliamentary elections, she ranked second on the Green Party list, after Martin Bursík. Jacques's high-profile campaign, which focused on women's rights, contributed to her receiving more votes than Bursík.

In 2008, Jacques stepped down as leader of the Green Party parliamentary faction. She married Martin Bursík in 2015, and they have a daughter together.

Assault Incident

On May 1, 2006, Jacques was assaulted by police officer Tomas Cermak during a protest against a neo-Nazi demonstration. Jacques's actions during the melee were controversial, and Cermak denied using excessive force. The incident led to charges against Cermak, which were eventually dropped in 2008. Cermak subsequently sued Jacques and her colleague Petr Slunecek for assault and perjury.

© BIOGRAPHS