Štefan Lux (4 November 1888 – 3 July 1936) was a Slovak Jewish journalist, and a

Czechoslovak Czechoslovak may refer to: *A demonym or adjective pertaining to Czechoslovakia (1918–93) **First Czechoslovak Republic (1918–38) **Second Czechoslovak Republic (1938–39) **Third Czechoslovak Republic (1948–60) **Fourth Czechoslovak Repub ...

citizen, who committed suicide in the general assembly of the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...

during its session on 3 July 1936. He shot himself in order to alert the world leaders of the rising dangers of German

antisemitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

, expansionism, and militarism. After shouting "C'est le dernier coup" ("This is the final blow"), he shot himself with a

revolver A revolver (also called a wheel gun) is a repeating handgun that has at least one barrel and uses a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold up to six roun ...

. In his suicide note he begged the British foreign secretary

Anthony Eden Robert Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon, (12 June 1897 – 14 January 1977) was a British Conservative Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1955 until his resignation in 1957. Achieving rapid promo ...

to do something to stop Germany's criminal regime. Eden was never shown the letter. Condemning his act, but paying tribute to his cause, the journalist

Léon Savary Léon Savary (Fleurier, 1895 - Boudry, 1968) was a Swiss French-speaking writer and journalist from Payerne, Vaud. Biography Savary was the son of a German russified aristocratic mother from the Baltic region (Von Paucker) and a father who was Pr ...

concluded: "People bold enough to fight for justice shouldn't kill themselves, but stay at their position." His actions were misreported by the world media at the time. Lux was also a writer, a theater actor, and a film director, who published his work under the pseudonym Peter Sturmbusch. He was wounded on more than one occasion during World War I.

Works

* Under Peter Sturmbusch pseudonym: ** ''Meine Lieder.'' ; Wien, C. Konegen, 1911. ** ''Drei Lieder für hohe Singstimme mit Klavierbegleitung'' ; Julius Rünger; Peter Sturmbusch; Ema Destinnová; Ada Negri; Mainz : B. Schott's Söhne, 1916. ** ''Liebeslieder.'' ; Wien: Carl Konegen, 1921. ** ''Nur keck : Posse mit Gesang in 3 Akten'' ;

Johann Nestroy Johann Nepomuk Eduard Ambrosius Nestroy (; 7 December 1801 – 25 May 1862) was a singer, actor and playwright in the popular Austrian tradition of the Biedermeier period and its immediate aftermath. He participated in the 1848 revolutions an ...

; Peter Sturmbusch; Wien : Interterritorialer Verlag "Renaissance" (Erdtracht) 1923. * As film Director: ** 1920 – ''Gerechtigkeit''

Memorials

* ''

Amen. ''Amen.'' is a 2002 historical war drama film directed and co-written by Costa-Gavras. Based on the play ''The Deputy'' by Rolf Hochhuth, the film examines the political and diplomatic relationship between the Vatican and Nazi Germany during Wo ...

'' a

Costa-Gavras Costa-Gavras (short for Konstantinos Gavras; el, Κωνσταντίνος Γαβράς; born 12 February 1933) is a Greek-French film director, screenwriter, and producer who lives and works in France. He is known for films with political and s ...

movie of 2002 begins with the suicide of Lux in Geneva. * Corrosion of Conformity's 1994 song "Pearls Before Swine" contains audio in the first 30 seconds of Lux's pre-speech introduction to the League of Nations.

References

* Michael Biggs
''The Transnational Diffusion of Protest by Self-Immolation''
; Department of Sociology, University of Oxford (2005), p. 17–29 * Betty Sargent ; ''The Desperate Mission of Stefan Lux'' ; ''The Georgia review''. 55, no. 4, (2001): 187 ; Athens, University of Georgia. * ''Der Opfertod von Genf : die Tat des Stephan Lux vor der Völkerbundsversammlung'' in the ''Israelitische Wochenblatt für die Schweiz'' 10 July 1936. * Arnold Hahn : ''Vor den Augen der Welt ! Warum starb Stefan Lux ? Sein Leben, seine Tat, seine Briefe'' (Prag : Verlag der Cechoslovakisches Liga gegen den Antisemitismus, 1936). * Stefan Lux : ''Porqué se mató el periodista Stéfan Lux : apuntes para la historia de un mártir del siglo XX.'' ; Buenos Aires : Columna, 1937. * Rüdiger Strempel: Lux. Gegen den Nationalsozialismus und die Lethargie der Welt. Osburg Verlag, Hamburg 2020, . * League of Nations Archives : Registry n° 15/24650/17433. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lux, Stefan 1888 births 1936 suicides Slovak film directors Slovak journalists Slovak male stage actors Slovak Jews League of Nations people Suicides by firearm in Switzerland People from Malacky 20th-century journalists 1936 deaths German-language writers Austro-Hungarian military personnel of World War I Suicides by Jews during the Holocaust

Works

Memorials

See also

References