Autograph Letter Signed from Paris Where the Future Czech President Sought Support for the Czech Independence Movement

$600

Item: 18233

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BENES, EDUARD. (1884-1948). Czechoslovak statesman; president from 1935-38 and 1946-48. ALS. (“Eduard Beneš” and “E.B.”). 2¼pp. 8vo. Paris, August 27, N.y. [between 1916 and 1918]. On stationery of the Czechoslovak National Council. To French Anthropologist Dr. Arthur Chervin. In French with translation.

I have tried to find a map of Serbia, but I am sorry that I have not found anything of the sort you want. I do not have a general staff map, and what I have here is not detailed enough. But in a week I will receive a German atlas where I hope to find the maps you are looking for. If you could wait a little longer, I would be very glad to make this atlas available to you. I am sorry that I cannot help you at this very moment. With my very best wishes, I am yours respectfully… P.S. Surely you know that in the book by [Louis] Niederle La Race Slav there are references, obviously not quite sufficient, that might be of help to you.

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During World War I, Beneš emerged as one of the leaders of the Czech independence movement, which sought autonomy from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, of which it had long been a part. In 1915, Beneš traveled to Paris to garner foreign support for the movement, forming the Czechoslovak National Council there in 1916. For two years he served as the organization’s secretary as well as minister of the interior and foreign affairs for the provisional Czechoslovak government. Upon the declaration of Czech independence signed by Beneš in 1918, he became the new country’s first foreign minister, a position he held until 1935 when he replaced Tomáš Masaryk as president. Much of his presidency was spent in exile because of the nation’s dismemberment under the terms of the Munich Pact concluded between Great Britain and Germany. During World War II, he headed a provisional government in London, returning home at the war’s end to become president for the second time in 1946, holding office until shortly after the Communist takeover two years later.

Chervin is the author of Bolivian Anthropology, Some Skulls of Estonians and Military Anthropometry. In excellent condition and uncommon in ALS and from this period.