Jan Antonín Baťa
| Jan Antonín Baťa | |
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Statue of Jan Antonín Baťa across the street from the Baťa’s Skyscraper in Zlín.
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| Born |
7 March 1898 Uherské Hradiště, Moravia, Austro-Hungarian Empire |
| Died | 23 August 1965 (aged 67) Batatuba, São Paulo, Brazil |
| Nationality | Czech |
Jan Antonín Baťa (March 11, 1898 – August 23, 1965) (also known as Jan Antonin Bata or Jan Bata, called The King of Shoes) was a Czech shoe manufacturer from Uherské Hradiště (southeastern Moravia), half-brother of Tomáš Baťa.
After his half-brother Tomas' death (1932) Jan Antonin Bata headed the Baťa company and in 1931 it became for the first time a joint stock company – Baťa a.s.) based in Zlín, former Czechoslovakia.
Under Jan Bata's administration implemented growth plans for the Baťa business and expanded further – into shoe machinery, tires, textiles, chemicals, mines, canals, a railway, film studios, manufacture of airplanes, department stores.
When Jan became owner and chief executive officer, the Baťa organization employed 16,560 people, maintained 1,645 shops and 25 enterprises. Most of it in Czech lands (15,770 employees, 1,500 shops, 25 enterprises) and Slovakia (2 enterprises, 250 employees). The international businesses of the Baťa company consisted of 790 employees, 132 shops and 20 international enterprises.
During his and Cipera's management the Czech part of the business more than doubled its size to 38,000 employees, 2,200 shops, and 70 enterprises. In Slovakia, he grew the business from 250 employees to 12,340 and 8 enterprises.
Before World War II Jan and his family fled the Nazis for the US and finally settled in Brazil, where he founded several towns, including: Bataiporã, Bataguassu, Batatuba, Anaurilândia and Mariápolis.
Up to his death, Jan expanded the organization more than sixfold from the date of purchase. From 1931 to 1942, the Bata organization grew to 105,770 employees.
The Baťaviles were new cities, new industrial communities, based and developed on the "ideal city" model. Jan Bata came up with a contest in 1935, where the ideal city designs were entered in the contest. "In 1935, [Jan] Bata invited Le Corbusier to Zlin as a member of the jury of Bata's International Housing Competition and for consultations over the factory city plans." The way Jan Bata introduced the Ideal city concept was based on a competitive competition.
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