Charles Bacik

Karel (Charles) Bacik (25 June 1910 – 11 July 1991) was a Czech-Irish glass manufacturer and co-founder of Waterford Glass.

He was born in Nová Říše in Bohemia, then a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He went on to study and graduated from Charles University, Prague, and began working in Bohemian glass manufacturing in Světlá nad Sázavou in 1935. By the time of the Communist takeover, he owned four glass factories.

In 1946, as his factories were being taken over by the Communists, he emigrated to Ireland. In 1947, in partnership with a Dublin gift-shop owner, Bernard Fitzpatrick, he started Waterford Glass. In 1950, the company was in financial difficulties and he ceded ownership to the Irish Glass Bottle Company. He continued to work for the company as a manager until 1974 and as a board member until 1984. He died in Fiddown, Ireland.

His granddaughter, Ivana Bacik, is an Irish Senator and academic.

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