HISTORY
What is Rotary International?
Rotary International is a worldwide organization of individuals of different professions, who by means of their clubs realize various humanitarian and educational projects, promote high ethical standards in all aspects of their lives and promote mutual understanding and thereby peace in the world.
The first Rotary Club was established in Chicago, Illinois, USA on February the 23rd, 1905. It was founded by Paul P. Harris, a lawyer. His idea of "Service Above Self" is today being put into practice by more than 1.2 million men and women of different worldviews and beliefs. These clubs are regionally organized into districts. District number 2240 encompasses all the Rotary clubs within the Czech Republic and Slovakia. District 2240 is a legal entity registered by the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic as an international non-government organization. Rotarians in the Czech and Slovak Republics publish their own magazine called Good News, both in print and online.
The Rotary Tradition in Brno
On the June the 1st, 1927, the first Rotary Club in Brno was founded. Brno then became one of the prominent Czechoslovakian cities and towns that caught onto the worlwide rotarian movement. The founder of the Brno Rotary Club was prof. MVDr. František Král, who later became governor of District 66. The Rotarians of Brno would regularly meet in the Slavia hotel until the Protectorate was established. The Nazi regime later banned their activities and persecuted the Rotarians. On the 15th of February, 1946, the surviving Rotarians (five of them were executed, three spent the war in concentration camps and a further six were imprisoned within the Protectorate) met again in the hotel to continue their pre-war activities. The leading personality was professor Král again. In 1947 the Club boasted 47 members. In the spring of 1948 its activities were ceased yet again, this time by the Communist regime. Rotary Club Brno was de facto reestablished as late as in 1990, when several enthusiasts met in the Bohéma restaurant and began creating a new, "third" Rotary Club Brno. It was officially established by receiving its Rotary Internation Charter on the 4th of May, 1991.
Rotary Club Brno City
Rotary club Brno City is the second club to be established within the boundaries of Brno. Unlike Rotary Club Brno, which is an institution that accepts gentlemen only, Rotary Club Brno is an association of both men and women. The Club was registered as a civic association by the Ministry of the Interior in 1999. A year later - on June the 20th, 2000 - the club was accepted as a member of Rotary International. Its founding was ceremonially sealed by the RI Charter handover on September 2nd, 2000. At the moment of its creation it had 21 members registered, in the Rotary year 2016/17 it boasted 22 permanent members and 5 honorary ones.
Its patron clubs, which helped establish it, are RC Toms River from New Jersey and RC Brno. The club was founded by the initiative Dr. Ing. Martina Jankovská, who then became the club's first president. For the first time since the beginning of the Rotarian movement in the Czech Republic, a woman was elected president. Martina Jankovská has therefore been awarded with the "Paul Harris Fellow" memorial tablet as suggested by RC Toms River.
Since its inception, the club has been determined to focus its activities on helping the youth, educating students, organizing discussions and professional workshops and the no less important matter of healthcare, where one of the first goals was to acquire a part of the funds necessary to buy software that would allow the purchase of suitable bone marrow donors for the Brno oncology clinic. Over the course of its 15 year existence, the club's projects have supported both various organizations and individuals with donations amounting to over 2,2 mil. CZK ($10 500).
Presidents of RC Brno City 2000 - 2016:
Rotary year 2000/2001 Martina Jankovská
Rotary year 2001/2002 Vladimír Kolařík
Rotary year 2002/2003 Alfréd Hera
Rotary year 2003/2004 Hana Vejvodová
Rotary year 2004/2005 Pavel Fried
Rotary year 2005/2006 Jiří Herman
Rotary year 2006/2007 Anna Putnová
Rotary year 2007/2008 Kamil Ševela
Rotary year 2008/2009 Daniel Kába
Rotary year 2009/2010 Stanislav Rizman
Rotary year 2010/2011 Věra Staňková
Rotary year 2011/2012 Michal Hort
Rotary year 2012/2013 Martin Kondrát
Rotary year 2013/2014 Hana Katrňáková
Rotary year 2014/2015 Jiří Kaláb
Rotary year 2015/2016 Marek Polan
Rotary year 2016/2017 Karla Dostálová
Rotary year 2017/2018 Jan Kaluža