Bata, Thomas John

▪ 2009

      Czech-born shoe manufacturer

born Sept. 17, 1914, Prague, Czech.

died Sept. 1, 2008, Toronto, Ont.

presided over the shoe company that was founded in 1894 by his father, Tomas Bata; he took control a few years after the latter's death in a plane crash in 1932 and expanded the firm into a footwear empire, with operations in 92 countries. The Bata Shoe Organization had its origins in the Moravian town of Zlin, then part of Austria-Hungary. With the rise of Nazism in his homeland, Bata moved operations to Toronto, and he resided in Canada for the remainder of his life. In later years Bata, the self-styled “shoemaker to the world,” expanded operations into less-developed countries, where his name became synonymous with footwear. At one time his concern was the world's largest shoe manufacturer, but it faced stiff competition from competitors Nike and Reebok. After the fall of communism, Bata returned to Prague in 1989 but was unable to persuade the government to return control to him of the Bata interests (5 factories, 900 shoe stores, rubber plants, and chemical factories) that had been nationalized by the government in the 1930s.

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