Vojta Beneš
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Vojta Beneš (11 May 1878 – 20 November 1951) was a Czech educator, political leader in
Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...
and brother of
Edvard Beneš Edvard Beneš (; 28 May 1884 – 3 September 1948) was a Czech politician and statesman who served as the president of Czechoslovakia from 1935 to 1938, and again from 1945 to 1948. He also led the Czechoslovak government-in-exile 1939 to 1945 ...
.


Life and career

Vojta Beneš was born in
Kožlany Kožlany () is a town in Plzeň-North District in the Plzeň Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 1,500 inhabitants. Administrative parts Villages of Buček, Dřevec, Hedčany and Hodyně are administrative parts of Kožlany. Geography Kož ...
,
Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...
, then a province of the
Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
. Beneš began his professional life as an educator at various institutions, and from 1913 to 1914 visited the United States to study its school systems. Returning to the United States with his wife, Emilie, and their children in 1915, he travelled around North America to attract support for Czechoslovak independence from Austria. For this and similar activities in the US during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, he became known as "Czechoslovakia's
Paul Revere Paul Revere (; December 21, 1734 O.S. (January 1, 1735 N.S.)May 10, 1818) was an American silversmith, engraver, early industrialist, Sons of Liberty member, and Patriot and Founding Father. He is best known for his midnight ride to ale ...
." He signed
Pittsburgh Agreement The Pittsburgh Agreement was a memorandum of understanding completed on 31 May 1918 between members of Czech and Slovak expatriate communities in the United States of America. It replaced the Cleveland Agreement of October 22, 1915. It is named ...
in 30 May 1918.Preclík, Vratislav. Masaryk a legie (Masaryk and legions), váz. kniha, 219 pages., vydalo nakladatelství Paris Karviná, Žižkova 2379 (734 01 Karviná, Czechia) ve spolupráci s Masarykovým demokratickým hnutím (Masaryk Democratic Movement, Prague), 2019, , pages 101-102, 121–125, 128, 129, 132, 140–148, 184–190. After the end of Austrian rule and the establishment of the
Czechoslovak republic Czechoslovak Republic (Czech and Slovak: ''Československá republika, ČSR''), was the official name of Czechoslovakia between 1918 and 1939 and between 1945 and 1960. See: *First Czechoslovak Republic (1918–1938) *Second Czechoslovak Republic ...
in 1918, Vojta Beneš was active as both an educator and public servant. He worked as a provincial school inspector, and, from 1937, as the chief inspector of the national school system. A member of the
Czech Social Democratic Party The Czech Social Democratic Party ( cs, Česká strana sociálně demokratická, ČSSD, ) is a social-democratic political party in the Czech Republic. Sitting on the centre-left of the political spectrum and holding pro-European views, it is a m ...
, he served as a deputy in the Czechoslovak parliament from 1925 to 1935, and as senator in 1935, resigning the latter post upon his brother's election to the presidency the following year. Beneš was also an official of the Czechoslovak legionary community and of the union of Czechoslovak teachers. With the conclusion of the
Munich Agreement The Munich Agreement ( cs, Mnichovská dohoda; sk, Mníchovská dohoda; german: Münchner Abkommen) was an agreement concluded at Munich on 30 September 1938, by Nazi Germany, Germany, the United Kingdom, French Third Republic, France, and Fa ...
in 1938 and the subsequent
Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...
, Beneš escaped to the U.S., where he began campaigning again for Czechoslovak freedom after nearly twenty-five years. After the liberation of Czechoslovakia by Allied forces in 1945, Vojta Beneš returned to public life in his country, serving from 1946 to 1948 in the Constituent National Assembly. Following the Communist Party coup in 1948, Beneš, with the support of his daughter in
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...
, returned for the third and final time to North America with the help of the
U.S. State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other nati ...
. He died in
South Bend South Bend is a city in and the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, on the St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total of 103,453 residents and is the fourt ...
,
Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...
, in 1951. His remains were eventually returned to Czechoslovakia and interred in a cemetery in Prague.


Writing

He was the author of a number of works, including the war-time books ''The Mission of a Small Nation'' and ''Ten Million Prisoners'', an illustrated volume of poetry for children, ''Naše Maminka'' (Our Mother), and others.


Family

Vojta Beneš and his wife Emilie had four children, three daughters and a son. His oldest daughter, Hana Klenková (née Benešová) was a writer and novelist in former Czechoslovakia. His son
Václav Václav () is a Czech male first name of Slavic origin, sometimes translated into English as Wenceslaus or Wenceslas. These forms are derived from the old Slavic/Czech form of this name: Venceslav. Nicknames are: Vašek, Vašík, Venca, Venda For ...
was professor of political science at
Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...
and father of Eva Beneš Hanhardt, a city planner in New York City, and Nina Hajda, an author based in
Manhattan, Kansas Manhattan is a city and county seat of Riley County, Kansas, United States, although the city extends into Pottawatomie County. It is located in northeastern Kansas at the junction of the Kansas River and Big Blue River. As of the 2020 cen ...
.
Emilie Benes Brzezinski Emilie Beneš Brzezinski (born Emilie Anna Beneš; January 21, 1932 – July 22, 2022) was a Swiss-American sculptor and the wife of Zbigniew Brzezinski. Education and career Emilie Beneš was born in Geneva, Switzerland. She earned a fine ar ...
, a sculptor and wife of
Zbigniew Brzezinski Zbigniew Kazimierz Brzeziński ( , ; March 28, 1928 – May 26, 2017), or Zbig, was a Polish-American diplomat and political scientist. He served as a counselor to President Lyndon B. Johnson from 1966 to 1968 and was President Jimmy Carter's ...
, is his grandniece; her father, Bohuš, a Czechoslovak diplomat, was the nephew of Vojta and Edvard.


See also

*
History of Czechoslovakia With the collapse of the Habsburg monarchy at the end of World War I, the independent country of CzechoslovakiaEdited by Keith Sword ''The Times Guide to Eastern Europe'' Times Book, 1990 p. 53 (Czech, Slovak: ''Československo'') was formed a ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Benes, Vojta 1878 births 1951 deaths People from Kožlany People from the Kingdom of Bohemia Czech Social Democratic Party politicians Members of the Chamber of Deputies of Czechoslovakia (1925–1929) Members of the Chamber of Deputies of Czechoslovakia (1929–1935) Members of the Senate of Czechoslovakia (1935–1939) Members of the Constituent National Assembly of Czechoslovakia Czech people of World War II Recipients of the Order of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk