Masaryk, T. G. (Tomáš Garrigue), 1850-1937

Masaryk was a Czech statesman, sociologist, philosopher and first president of Czechoslovakia (1920-1935); Husserl was a German philosopher.

Masaryk was a Czechoslovakian political leader and philosopher; he was the first president of Czechoslovakia.

Thomas Masaryk was born on March 7, 1850, in the former Austro-Hungarian Empire, into a working class family of Slovak, Moravian, and Slavic decent. This ethnic decent later informed and motivated much of his life's work. After studying philosophy in Brno, Leipzig, and Vienna, Masaryk was named Professor of Philosophy at the University of Prague in 1882. As part of his dedication to Czech civilization, Masaryk began a magazine concentrated on Czech culture and science. Masaryk was also elected to the Austrian parliament, first, as a member of the Young Czech Party, and then again as a member of the Realist Party. With the eruption of World War I in 1914, Masaryk found that the best way to attain his ultimate ideal of Czechoslovak independence from Austria-Hungary was through self-imposed exile. Between late 1914 and early 1918, Masaryk made his way across Europe and Asia to the United States, promoting, organizing, and establishing the Czechoslovak cause along the way. His travels did much in the way of establishing the Czechoslovak Legions, which were military units designed to aid the Allied cause in Russia. The connections established by Masaryk during this period also provided the Allies with valuable intelligence and counter-intelligence information. Named president of the provisional Czechoslovak government by the Allies, after the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the close of World War I, Masaryk was elected the president of a sovereign Czechoslovak Republic in 1918. He was reelected in 1920, 1927, and 1934. Due to ailing health, he resigned as president in 1935, with Dr. Edvard Benes taking the office. Two years later, on September 14, 1937, Thomas Masaryk died of natural causes.

President of the Czechoslovak Republic, 1918-1935.

President of Czechoslovakia.