About Tomáš Baťa
Tomáš Baťa (Czech pronunciation: [ˈtomaːʃ ˈbaca]) (3 April 1876 – 12 July 1932) was a Czech entrepreneur and founder of Bata Shoes. He died in a plane crash caused by bad weather. Baťa's half-brother Jan Antonín Baťa took over his company, expanding it during the Great Depression. World War II resulted in much destruction of the business. After Communist governments were established in Czechoslovakia and other nations of Eastern Europe, they nationalized the Baťa enterprises, taking over the company group. Tomáš's son Thomas J. Bata rebuilt and expanded shoe manufacturing in the company name after moving to Canada in 1939, at the time of the Nazi invasion and annexation of Czechoslovakia. The record shows that Tomáš Baťa did indeed precede modern "quality management" practices by at least half a century. He founded the famous Zlin aircraft works two years after Baťa's death, starting with simple gliders. World War I created a booming demand for military shoes, which the company started to produce.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.