Čaputová first became known by prevailing in a decade-long struggle against the situating of a toxic landfill in her hometown of Pezinok. For this, Čaputová was awarded the 2016 Goldman Environmental Prize. She won the 2019 Slovak presidential election with 58% of the vote in the run-off.
Čaputová was born into a working-class family in Bratislava. She grew up in the nearby town of Pezinok, in what was Czechoslovakia for the first two decades of her life. Čaputová has described her upbringing as having occurred within "an open-minded house".
Čaputová studied at the Comenius University Faculty of Law in Bratislava, graduating in 1996. Between 1998 and 1999 she completed the training cycle "General Management – Management of Change" and in 1999 the ARK – Mediation course, accredited by the Ministry of Education of Slovakia.
After concluding her education, Čaputová worked in the local government of Pezinok, first as an assistant in the legal department, and later as a deputy to the town mayor.
She later moved into the non-profit sector at the Open Society Foundations, where she handled public administration and the issue of abused and exploited children. Subsequently, she worked as a project manager at the civic association EQ Klub on local community development.
Between 2001 and 2017, Čaputová worked with Via Iuris, a civic organization, as a lawyer (since 2010), and with Greenpeace on campaign planning. In Pezinok, for more than ten years, she was at the forefront of a public campaign against the authorization of another landfill that would aggravate pollution of the soil, air, and water in the city and its surrounding areas. The fight against the landfill culminated in 2013, when the Supreme Court of Slovakia ruled that the new landfill was illegal and violated environmental norms.
Čaputová has run her own law firm and authored and co-authored several publications. She is a fellow of the Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide (ELAW), a network of environmental lawyers and jurists.
As a co-founding member of Progressive Slovakia, a non-parliamentary liberal party, Čaputová served as its deputy chair until March 2019, after which she resigned due to her presidential candidacy. Čaputová was the party's candidate in the 2019 Slovak presidential election and proceeded to be elected president in the second round, after receiving over 58% of the vote and beating her opponent Vice President of the European Commission Maroš Šefčovič, an independent who was supported by the long-dominant Smer–SD party.
In a press conference held on 29 March 2018, ÄŚaputová announced her bid for the Slovak presidency in the 2019 presidential race as the candidate of Progressive Slovakia. Robert MistrĂk, another strong contender, withdrew from the race and endorsed her on 26 February 2019. She said she had felt compelled to run for the Presidency after the murder of the investigative journalist Ján Kuciak.
Čaputová won the first round of the election on 16 March 2019, with 40.57% of the vote. She then defeated her second-place opponent, Maroš Šefčovič, by around 58% to 42% in the second run-off round on 30 March 2019. The second-round turnout of just 41.79% was the lowest for any round of voting in that type of election in Slovakia. The number of votes with which Čaputová was elected to office was also the lowest for any directly elected Slovak president to date. Her presidential inauguration took place on 15 June 2019 during a special session of the National Council in Bratislava.
She was rated as the most trusted politician in the country in both 2020 and 2021, with 83% and 58% of citizens polled saying they saw her as trustworthy, respectively. A December 2019 poll in the neighboring Czech Republic showed that she had a higher approval rating there (54% approval, 18% disapproval) than incumbent President Miloš Zeman (46% approval, 50% disapproval).
A poll in late May 2022 reported that 15% of voters would "certainly" vote for her, with additional 34% considering a vote for her in the next presidential election, which is scheduled for April 2024.
In 2023, Čaputová was mentioned as a possible candidate to replace NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg following his expected retirement that same year.
On 20 June 2023, Čaputová announced that she would not run for re-election, citing the stress created by four major crises during her term: the coronavirus pandemic, Russia's war in Ukraine, the energy crisis and soaring inflation. Her decision was commented on by Czech President Petr Pavel with regret and her predecessor Andrej Kiska with sadness. Similar positions were expressed by centre-right and former coalition parties. Opposition headed by SMER-SSD, HLAS-SD and SNS welcomed her decision.
Čaputová is divorced and has two daughters. She practices Zen yoga. Čaputová continued to reside in Pezinok during her presidency.
