Michal Kováč was born on August 5, 1930, and died on October 5, 2016.
He was the first President of Slovakia.
Michal graduated from the present-day University of Economics in Bratislava and was a bank employee of the Státní banka československá and of other banks.
Then he spent some years in London and in Cuba in the 1960s.
In the Normalization he was subject to some persecution.
During and after the Velvet Revolution, from 12 December 1989 to 17 May 1991 (when he resigned) Michal Kováč was the Finance Minister of the Slovak (Socialist) Republic.
During early 1991, Michal Kováč was one of the founders and the vice-chairman of the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia.
Michal Kováč was elected as a deputy to the Federal Assembly of Czechoslovakia in 1990.
Following the 1992 election he served as the Chairman of the Federal Assembly from 25 June to 31 December 1992.
Michal Kováč played an important role in the process of the preparation of the Dissolution of Czechoslovakia.
Kováč was elected president by the National Council of Slovakia in February 1993.
Michal Kováč’s term ended on 2 March 1998.
However the Slovak media reported on 10 July 2008 that Kováč probably suffered from Parkinson’s disease.
Michal Kováč passed away at 86 years old.