Osuský, Štefan, 1889-1973

Štefan Osuský, Czechoslovak diplomat; ambassador to Great Britain, 1918-1921; ambassador to France, 1921-1940; minister of state, Czechoslovak Government-in-Exile, 1940-1942.

Stefan Osusky (1888-1973 ) was born in Slovakia and came to the United States after completing elementary school. He received a law degree from the University of Chicago. During World War I he worked for creation of an independent Czechoslovak state. Following the War, he served in the diplomatic service of Great Britain and Switzerland, and from 1931-1938 was the Czech ambassador to France. After Munich, he joined the Benes government in London.

He began lecturing on the history of diplomacy and international relations at Oxford. In the spring of 1945 Osuský left for the United States, becoming a professor at the Colgate University in Hamilton, New York. After the Communist takeover in February 1948 he was active in the Council of Free Czechoslovakia. He also worked as a journalist-political scientist. In his work he especially paid attention to the history and presence of Czechoslovak politics in international relations. He died in Herndon, Virginia, on 27 September 1973. He is buried at Oak Hill Cemetery, Georgetown, Washington, D.C. The epitaph on his grave reads: "And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither."