Thomas J. Baťa dies at 93

Thomas J. Baťa, former head of Czech shoe giant Baťa, has died in Toronto at the age of 93. Thomas J. Baťa was born on 17 September 1914 in the Moravian town of Zlín. He continued with the shoe-making tradition of his father Tomáš Baťa, who founded the famous company in Zlín in 1894. It gradually developed into one of the biggest footwear companies in the world. After the Communists seized power in Czechoslovakia in 1948, Baťa’s companies were nationalised and Thomas J. Baťa fled to Canada. The company resumed its business activities in the Czech Republic after 1989.