Jan Bata's Dr. Honoris Causa degree has been restored by the university. Finally, it only took 73 years. But, it is progress. Jan A. Bata is now Dr. Jan A. Bata again.
"Our family is very happy to learn the news of the restoration of Jan Antonin Bata’s Dr. Honoris Causa degree in Technical Sciences. He was awarded this degree for his engineering achievements of creating the city of Otrokovice using water jets to level a mountain and building a 50 kilometer canal system (the Bata canal) spanning the Czech Republic and Slovakia to control flooding on the Morava River. We are grateful that his accomplishments are still a part of the nation's memory."
Background: Fighting unemployment following the depression, Jan Bata took on the daunting task of moving a mountain of dirt with water jets to melt the mountain away to create the city of Batov (later renamed to Otrokovice). The Austrian empire had aspired to create a canal on the Morava River for more than 150 years. But, it was Jan Antonin Bata who completed this engineering marvel in 1938 by connecting a canal spanning more than 50 kilometers between the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The Bata canal was divided by fourteen massive locks that were used to control flooding and allow for shipping along the canal. It is well known that within Jan Antonin Bata's era, tens-of-thousands of high paying jobs were created, more than twenty thousand were educated in Bata schools, and regional prosperity.
Note: The attachment is from one of the Bata books we have.
Jan Bata's Dr. Honoris Causa ceremony in 1938 on the following link:
Projev dr.h.c. Jana Antonína Bati 26.3.1938
John and Jana Nash
17. 11. 2020
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P.S.
In 1947, in the absence of Jan Antonín Baťa, he was sentenced to 15 years for not publicly professing resistance against the Nazis. He financially supported the government of exile of Edvard Beneš in London and the domestic resistance. He was one of the country's greatest patriots. Until 2007, he was considered a criminal and collaborator. Only 18 years after the Velvet Revolution in 1989, in 2007, he was found not guilty by a court and fully rehabilitated. He received the Order of the White Lion Class I, the highest award in the Czech Republic, on October 28, 2019.
To date, the property has not been returned to his descendants or compensation has been paid in accordance with Beneš's decrees.
In 1957, he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for his development projects. The petitioners were the widow of US President Eleanor Roosevelt and UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld. Jan Baťa resigned from the candidacy in favor of the Brazilian candidate Marian Candida Rondône.
One of the greatest works of Jan Antonín Bata is the bridge over the Paraná River, which connects the Brazilian states of Mato Grosso do Sul and Säp Paulo. At the instigation of Jan Antonín Bata, the bridge was designed by his engineers. The construction was carried out by the Brazilian government.
The invitation to the grand opening came to Jan Antonín Baťa at a time when he was already seriously ill. He died on August 23, 1965 in Brazil, just on the day the new bridge was inaugurated.
Forty volumes of economic studies, reflections, travelogues, novels and poetry remain in the family archive.
Jan Antonin Baťa saved hundreds of Jewish families from the Nazis. He sent them as „employees“ to Bata's foreign factories. It is still silenced. Thousands of lives saved and the gratitude of the people for their lives is the highest award. J.Š.
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