Zdeno Chara receives the “Order of Ludovit Stur 2nd Class” from the president of Slovakia, the second highest state award
Slovakian President Zuzana Caputova decorated 24 individuals with state awards, five of whom received them posthumously, at a ceremony held at the Slovak Philharmonic building and attended also by House Chair Boris Kollar, Prime Minister Eduard Heger and a number of Government ministers on Sunday June 27th.
The Ludovit Stur Order was awarded posthumously to late ice-hockey legend Pavol Demitra, who died in September 2011 in a tragic aircraft crash near Russian city of Yaroslavl.
Among other decorated figures were ice-hockey player Zdeno Chara, musical composer Vladimir Godar, psychologist Magdalena Spotakova, publicist Milan Sutovec, high school teacher Jaroslav Budz who laid down his life defending students from an attack in the town of Vrutky (Zilina region), palliative medicine trailblazer Kristina Krizanova, Polish movie director and script writer Agnieszka Hollandova and many others.