Vlasta Adele Vraz (June 18, 1900 — August 22, 1989) was a Czech American relief worker, editor, and fundraiser. She was director of American Relief for Czechoslovakia, and president of the Czechoslovak National Council of America. In 1949 she was arrested by Czech authorities on espionage charges, but quickly released after pressure from the United States.

Early life

Vlasta Adele Vraz was born in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and raised in Czech California,

South Lawndale, Chicago South Lawndale is a community area on the West Side of Chicago, Illinois. Over 80% of the residents are of Mexican descent and the community is home to the largest foreign-born Mexican population in Chicago. Neighborhoods Little Village ...

. Her father was Enrique Stanko Vraz (1860-1932), a naturalist and explorer born in Bulgaria to Czech parents. Her mother was also called Vlasta Vraz (1875-1961). Her maternal grandfather August Geringer (1842-1930) published a Czech-language Daily, ''Svornost'', in the United States, starting in 1875."Vlasta Adele Vraz, 89, Czechoslovak Activist"
''Chicago Tribune'' (August 24, 1989).

Career

She lived in Prague as a young woman, from 1919 to 1939, at first helping her father who was lecturing there before he died in 1932. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

she returned to the United States with her widowed mother, and was a secretary in

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for the Czech government in exile. In 1945, she was back in Prague, directing American Relief for Czechoslovakia. She was responsible for distributing $4 million in food, medicine, clothing and other supports. She was inducted into the

Order of the White Lion The Order of the White Lion ( cs, Řád Bílého lva) is the highest order of the Czech Republic. It continues a Czechoslovak order of the same name created in 1922 as an award for foreigners (Czechoslovakia had no civilian decoration for its ...

Jan Masaryk Jan Garrigue Masaryk (14 September 1886 – 10 March 1948) was a Czech diplomat and politician who served as the Foreign Minister of Czechoslovakia from 1940 to 1948. American journalist John Gunther described Masaryk as "a brave, honest, turbul ...

in 1946, for her relief work. But in 1949, Vraz was arrested by the Communist authorities, on espionage charges, sparking protests from the United States. Upon release after a week in custody, Vraz returned to the United States, where she became president of the Czechoslovak National Council of America, and edited two national publications for the Czechoslovak-American community. She was called upon for reactions during the 1968

Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia The Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia refers to the events of 20–21 August 1968, when the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic was jointly invaded by four Warsaw Pact countries: the Soviet Union, the Polish People's Republic, the People's Rep ...

Personal life

Vlasta Vraz died in 1989, aged 89 years. Her remains were buried in the Bohemian National Cemetery in Chicago, near those of her mother and her brother, Victor E. Vraz, an economics professor at

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

. Some of her papers are in the Geringer Family Papers, archived at the

Chicago History Museum Chicago History Museum is the museum of the Chicago Historical Society (CHS). The CHS was founded in 1856 to study and interpret Chicago's history. The museum has been located in Lincoln Park since the 1930s at 1601 North Clark Street at the in ...

.Geringer Family Papers
Chicago History Museum. The rest of her papers was bequeathed to the Náprstek Museum in Prague, Czech Republic. The same institution owns extensive personal papers of her father Enrique Stanko Vráz.

References

External links

Portrait of Vlasta Vraz under street signs, 1945-1946
University of Minnesota Media Archive. 1900 births 1989 deaths American editors American people of Czech descent Recipients of the Order of the White Lion Burials at Bohemian National Cemetery (Chicago) {{authority control