Rudolf Hotowetz (1865-1945), Czech economist and politician.
© Article written by Gabriel Godeffroy for the Central Europe Foundation
Photo:.Album representantů všech oborů veřejného života československého, 1927, p. 308
A few years after the completion of his doctorate in Law at the Czech University in Prague, Rudolf Hotowetz started to work at the Chambre of Commerce of Prague, “where he gradually rose to the place of its Secretary General” and greatly contributed to its excellent reputation. In 1917, after years of preparatory work, he was named President of the newly created General Pension Institute.
After the collapse of Austria-Hungary, and the creation of Czechoslovakia, Rudolf Hotowetz became President of the Foreign Trade Office and later Minister of Commerce. Hotowetz had to “cope with serious difficulties resulting from the separation of Czechoslovakia from the former economic unit”. With his colleague Václav Schuster, he was responsible for “the marking of the first lines of [the Czechoslovak] commercial policy and the conclusion of the first and most important commercial treaties” of the new Czechoslovakian state. In September 1921, Hotowetz resigned as Minister of Commerce to express his opposition to the new tariffs voted by the National Assembly.
From then on, Rudolf Hotowetz advocated economic rapprochement between Czechoslovakia and the other Successor states. Furthermore, he was also promoting the economic unification of Europe. In contrary to Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi, leader of the Pan-European movement, Hotowetz considered that Soviet Russia should be included in the European economic area. With the Austrian businessman Julius Meinl and the Hungarian economist Elemér Hantos, Hotowetz was one of the initiators of the first Central European Congress in Vienna in September 1925. He was also the Vice-President of the Czechoslovak Committee for Central European cooperation and the President of the Czechoslovak Section of the European Customs Union.
--Rudolf Hotowetz, "Paneuropa und Russland“ (Prager Tagblatt, 20. März 1924, p. 2)
--"Dr. Hotowetz für ein Vorzugs-Zollregime der Nachfolgestaaten“ (Prager Tagblatt, 18. Juni 1925, p. 6)
--“Dr. Rudolf Hotowetz – 60 Jahre” (Prager Tagblatt, 10. Oktober 1925, p. 4)
--Zdeněk Fafl, “The 70th birthday of Dr. Rudolf Hotowetz, president of the Czechoslovak Oriental Institute” (Archiv orientální, 1935, vol. VII, p. 277-279)