Ing. Jan Bervida (4 September 1893 in Radkov, district

Tábor Tábor (; ) is a town in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 34,000 inhabitants, making it the second most populated town in the region. The town was founded by the Hussites in 1420. The historic town centre is well pres ...

– 26 January 1962 in New York, USA). Residence: United States of America, 1948–1962. Head of department of

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

n Civilian Airways (1929–38 and also 1945–47). Vice president of

ICAO The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international sch ...

and FAI. Member of ICAN and the

Council of Free Czechoslovakia A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or nation ...

Biography

After finishing secondary school in

he began studying at the Imperial-Royal Technical University (now

ČVUT Czech Technical University in Prague (CTU) () is one of the largest universities in the Czech Republic with 8 faculties, and is one of the oldest institutes of technology in Central Europe. It is also the oldest non-military technical universi ...

) in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

. In 1914, during the 1st World War, he was sent to Eastern Front and 1915 Bervida was taken prisoner by Russians, and later as a private of the

Czechoslovak Legion The Czechoslovak Legion ( Czech: ''Československé legie''; Slovak: ''Československé légie'') were volunteer armed forces consisting predominantly of Czechs and Slovaks fighting on the side of the Entente powers during World War I and the ...

he took part in a march to the United States via

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. Upon returning to his home country he graduated from the University of Technology, receiving an MA (Ing.) in Aeronautic Engineering.

Public Works Ministry

In 1927–29 he worked at the Public Works Ministry in

, where he became Head of the Aviation Department in 1929. By some sources short time before the occupation of

by the Army of the

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

in 1938, President

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 1939 to 1948. During the first six years of his second stint, he led the Czec ...

promoted him to Army General in Reserve. There is not any remark in Czech military archives about it.

The Nazi Occupation 1939–1945

During the Nazi Occupation of Czechoslovakia from 1939 to 1945, Bervida, as a former member of

, was fired in 1939 and became a teacher. He taught at a secondary school specializing in engineering. Later he was arrested and interrogated. Because he collaborated with the

Czechoslovak government-in-exile The Czechoslovak government-in-exile, sometimes styled officially as the Provisional Government of Czechoslovakia (; ), was an informal title conferred upon the Czechoslovak National Liberation Committee (; ), initially by Government of the Unit ...

in London, he was sentenced to death. He was saved by the end of World War II in May 1945.

Post-war

In 1945–47, Bervida became Department Head at the Ministry of Transport (Civilian Airways) and

Czechoslovak Airlines Czech Airlines (abbreviation: ČSA, ) is a Czech aviation brand and privately held holding company. Between 1923 and 2024, it operated as an independent airline and served as the flag carrier of the Czech Republic. Czech Airlines ended its own fl ...

(ČSA) Director. In 1946 was Bervida elected vice president of the FAI and one year later 1947 was he elected vice president to the

International Civil Aviation Organization The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international sch ...

(ICAO). He was unjustly charged in a court case brought against him, but the case was dropped after the intervention of President

. During Communist takeover in 1948 he was in France, where applied for citizenship. In Paris he was involved with Czechoslovak exile authorities (

). Shortly thereafter he emigrated to the United States, where he worked with the ICAO in New York and in

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References

*Bervida, Jan : "Naše křídla" (Our Wings), Prague 1939. *Berwid-Buquoy, Jan: "60. let od zahájení leteckého provozu na letišti Tábor-Čápův dvůr" (60 Years since the Founding of the Airport Tabor-Čápův dvůr), Tabor 2006. *Mejstřík, Jiří: "Czechs Around the World 1918–2000. A lexicon of expatriates who have made their mark in the world", Prague 2000. *Pejskar, Jožka: "Poslední pocta" (The Last Honour), Encyclopedia, part III., Baltimore, Maryland, USA 1989. ---- See also

List of Czechs This is a partial list of famous Czech people. This list includes people born in Czech lands, people of the Czech nationality as well as people having some significant Czech ancestry or association with Czech culture. ''Note: If you wish to add ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bervida, Jan Czechoslovak emigrants to the United States Czechoslovak Legion Austro-Hungarian military personnel of World War I Czechoslovak prisoners of war World War I prisoners of war held by Russia Czechoslovak military personnel of World War I 1962 deaths 1893 births Czech Technical University in Prague alumni