To say that Thomas Bata sold shoes would be a gross understatement.
The magnate of the Bata shoe company turned his father’s business into a multinational retailer that sold 300 million pairs of shoes a year by the 1990s. He was passionate about conscious capitalism, and tried to find ways for his business to improve the lives of others.
Bata died at Sunnybrook Hospital in º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøat 6:47 yesterday morning. The cause was a blockage in one of his arteries, according to his widow, Sonja Bata. He was 93.
He is survived by his wife, a son and three daughters.
“One of the greatest personalities of our time has left,” Czech President Vaclav Klaus, a personal friend, said in a statement. “Despite ill fortune in his homeland, he managed to succeed in the world and became, for us, a symbol of business success. We will all miss him.”
The Bata shoe company was founded in 1894 when Bata’s father, Tomas, spent the equivalent of $350 (U.S.) to open a two-room shoe workshop in Zlin in what’s now the Czech Republic. After his father died in a plane crash, the younger Bata took over the business in 1932, which grew to have operations in 40 countries by the late 1930s. He would run the company into the 1980s.
He eventually rose to become one of the richest men in Toronto, maintaining a home in the coveted Bridle Path area. He was made a Companion of the Order of Canada in 1971.
Sonja Bata yesterday described her late husband, who she worked and travelled with frequently, as a “guiding light” for younger generations, who cared about education and encouraged new entrepreneurs.
“In the 1930s there was a slogan: “He profits most who serves best,’” Sonja told the Star. “He felt business people had to serve society through their products. He really believed in that. It was rare for a capitalist to think that way.”
His idea of building factories in Africa and Latin America was tied to his desire to create jobs for people who lacked skills and education, she said. Confronted with a lack of parts and resources in underdeveloped countries, he used local materials, often inventing substitutes with what was at hand.
“We made an awful lot of shoes, but more importantly, he helped people to get on with their lives,” she said. “All his life, he believed in people.”
Born Sept. 17, 1914, in Prague, Thomas Bata’s life was indelibly marked by the horrors of fascist Germany and the Cold War.
Faced with the rise of Nazism in Europe, he fled for Canada in 1939, bringing his business’s headquarters with him. He served with the Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment of the Canadian Armed Forces in World War II.
He considered himself a Canadian after he went into exile here.
“He picked Canada as his country,” said Sonja. “He was a Canadian through and through.”
He returned to his birthplace after it was liberated, but left after Czechoslovakia’s communist regime took over his factory, declaring it a capitalist evil.
He approached obstacles with a great sense of humour, said Sonja.
After the fall of communism in 1989, Bata got a message from a long-time family friend, Czech dissident and playwright turned leader Vaclav Havel, saying “Tom should come as soon as he can.”
Cheering Prague crowds regarded Bata as a legend upon his return.
Sonja Bata said her husband was still active right to his death and had several engagements on his calendar, including speaking in a panel discussion about refugee camps in March.
He refused to walk with a cane, she said, although he probably could have used it.
“He bought an iPhone three days ago,” said Sonja. “He enjoyed fiddling around with it. He was in perfect health.”
He was sitting down to see the play An Inspector Calls at the Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake Saturday evening when he complained of stomach pain. He thought it was food poisoning and expected to be back on his feet, said Sonja. It was not until Sunday when it became clear he was gravely ill.
The family is discussing plans for a program in his name that would promote responsible capitalism, said Sonja Bata. Funeral arrangements were not immediately known.
“We had such a wonderful, wonderful life together,” said Sonja, whose own passion for shoes led her to found the Bata Shoe Museum in downtown º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøin 1995, the first museum of its kind in the West.
“He was passionate about improving the world.”
With files from the Canadian Press
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