Thomas Bata Jr., the founder of the Foundation
The Thomas Bata Foundation was founded in 1996 by Thomas Bata Jr. in order to support projects aimed at the healthy development of a prosperous community, whether in the area of youth education, social and cultural development, or promoting of business activities.
On May 1, 1998, the foundation solemnly launched its activities. It coincides with the reopening of Tomas Bata‘s restored villa, which the Bata family regained after 1989. At this very moment, the Bata phenomenon reappears in society after a long absence, having been brutally interrupted but restored in a completely new form.
The Thomas Bata Foundation‘s mission also includes the development and preservation of Bata history and traditions, which is reflected in all of the foundation‘s activities, including extensive publishing, the annual preparation of Bata books, and thematic exhibitions.
The founder of the Thomas Bata Foundation was Thomas Bata Jr., who recovered his parents' villa as part of restitution in the 1990s. The villa was returned to him because it was not part of the company's assets which had been nationalised on the basis of Beneš decrees, but belonged to the property of his mother, Maria Baťová. And just for the record, the Foundation is named after Thomas Bata Jr., not his father, as people often think.
When Thomas Bata Jr. recovered ownership of the Villa, he had one wish, and that was to make it a useful place that would support the development of society, education, culture and business. At the same time, he invested one million US dollars in renovating the house, which was in a deplorable state and needed to be restored to its original condition. After the renovation, he donated the house and the surrounding garden and adjacent land to a newly established foundation with the idea of making the place a vibrant centre for development activities. Along with the Foundation, the Villa also housed the educational organization Junior Achievement and the Rotary Club.
Thomas Bata Jr. and Sonja Bata with Václav Havel, 1989
Sonja and Thomas Bata Jr. with Valtr Komárek, Zlín 1989
November 1989
Zlín got back its name, arrival of Thomas Bata Jr. back to his homeland
Since his return to Czechoslovakia, Thomas Bata Jr. worked with JUDr. Stanislav Knotek, who was the legal counsel at the Bata company and a member of the Foundation's Board of Directors for over twenty years. In the early days, it was he who helped to lay its solid foundations. Monica Pignal, the daughter of Thomas Bata Jr., was also at the Foundation's birth, taking care of the Villa's reconstruction from the beginning and was the first chairperson of the Foundation's Board of Directors.
When Thomas Bata Jr. was looking for a trustworthy person to lead the Foundation, the imaginary key was the International School of Modern Shoemaking in Zlín, whose founders were the shoemaker Jan Pivečka and the school's director Ing. Pavel Velev. The aim of the school was to return Zlín to the world's leading position in training of young people for the shoemaking industry.
And it was at the International School of Modern Shoemaking where Pavel Velev met Thomas Bata Jr. in 1992, who was very supportive of the school operation and facilitated its international cooperation. When the school closed in 1997, Thomas Bata Jr. did not hesitate to offer Pavel Velev cooperation through the newly established Foundation.
In 1998, Pavel Velev became the director of the Thomas Bata Foundation and led it until 2023, more than 25 years. Throughout this time, Jitka Zvolská, another important member of the team who left her mark on the Foundation, stood by his side. In 2023, Gabriela Končičíková took the director's chair.
In the first years of the Foundation's operation, its activities were strongly linked to the personality of Thomas Bata Jr., who could be met in the Bata Villa whenever he came to Zlín, which was several times a year.
As early as 1998, Pavel Velev revived the tradition of the Bata May Day celebrations, and the Foundation also played an important role, for example, during the period of the Czech Republic's accession to the European Union, when through lectures, talks and seminars it introduced the public to important topics associated with the accession.
Thomas Bata Jr. at a ribbon-cutting ceremony marking the re-opening of the Bata Villa, pictured with Pavel Velev, 1 May 1998
Thomas Bata Jr. with Pavel Velev
Thomas Bata Jr. with Jan Pivečka
Stanislav Knotek with a bust of Thomas Bata Jr. in front of the villa
Thomas Bata Jr., together with his wife Sonja, visited Zlín regularly and their four children - Thomas George, Christine, Monica and Rosemarie - also found their way to the city. They repeatedly attended the May Day celebrations and all important meetings. Monica Pignal was the chairperson of the Board of Directors of the Thomas Bata Foundation from 1998 to 2012, then she became the chairperson of the Bata Shoe Foundation (the foundation under which the Thomas Bata Foundation in Zlín falls) and passed the chairmanship in the Board of Directors of the Thomas Bata Foundation to her younger sister Rosemarie Blyth-Bata, who has been the chairperson since 2013 and also stays in touch with Zlín.
Thomas Bata Jr. with his wife and children in front of the Tomas Bata University in Zlín
Thomas Bata Jr. with his daughter Monica Pignal in Wallachia
Rosemarie Bata-Blyth, daughter of Thomas Bata Jr., Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the Foundation
Thomas Bata Jr. at Walachia
