Karel Schwarzenberg was born in 1937 in Prague, but in 1948 his family had to leave the republic. He studied law in Vienna and Graz and forestry in Munich. As a president of International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights he was encouraging the respect for human rights in Europe, mainly in the 1980’. In 1986 in Bavaria he co-founded The Czechoslovak Documentation Centre to support the Czechoslovak exile and dissent. In autumn 1989 he returned to his native country and in 1990 he was named the Chancellor of the Office of the President. He resigned in 1992 after the President Vaclav Havel’s abdication. In the next years Karel Schwarzenberg continued managing the family businesses, mainly the forestry and maintenance of their historical legacy. Nevertheless he was still active in a number of foundations, commissions and associations. In 2004 he was elected Senator. From 2007 to 2009 he served as Minister of Foreign Affairs. In 2009 he co-founded the political party TOP 09 and to this day he is its president. Between 2010 and 2013 he served again as Minister of Foreign Affairs