Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences, until 1978 known as Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences in America, is an international non-profit organization with the aim to connect people with interest in Czech and Slovak intellectual contributions all around the world, supporting cooperation in culture, sciences, and education. The society was founded in

Washington DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

in 1958 U.S. Library of Congress: ''The Czechs in America''
/ref> on the basis of the Washington DC local chapter of the Czechoslovak National Council of America (headquartered in

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

), by Dr. Jaroslav Němec,The Czechoslovak Documentation Center: ''Biographic Index''
/ref> a lawyer and exiled chief military prosecutor, with significant support from Vlasta Vraz, president of the Czechoslovak National Council of America. In the years 1961–1978, the society was registered as Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences in America in the New York State. In November 1978, the society's head office was incorporated District of Columbia, Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs: ''File Number 783908'' (1978). in the nation's capital

, where it was incepted. In November 1978, also the society's official name was changed - it was shortened to Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences, to reflect its international character and new local chapters being created also outside of the United States. All operations of this organization are carried out by unpaid volunteers. From its inception, the society has been independent and non-partisan.

Founding personalities

Jaroslav Němec convinced world-renowned mathematician

Václav Hlavatý Václav Hlavatý (27 January 1894 – 11 January 1969) was a noted Czech- American mathematician, who wrote on the theory of relativity and corresponded extensively with Albert Einstein on the subject. In particular, Hlavatý solved some very diff ...

to become the first president of the society. Němec became its first secretary general. In the years 1968–1970, Němec served as the society's president and in 1980–1985, he also edited the society's newsletter ''SVU NEWS / ZPRÁVY SVU''. In the beginning, Němec was also able to get support for the project of creating this Society among known artists and writers:

Jarmila Novotná Jarmila Novotná (September 23, 1907, in Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to abou ...

Rafael Kubelík Rafael Jeroným Kubelík, KBE (29 June 1914 – 11 August 1996) was a Czech conductor and composer. Son of a well-known violinist, Jan Kubelík, he was trained in Prague, and made his debut with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra at the age of 1 ...

Rudolf Firkušný Rudolf Firkušný (; 11 February 191219 July 1994) was a Moravian-born, Moravian-American classical pianist. Life Born in Moravian town Napajedla, Firkušný started his musical studies with the composers Leoš Janáček and Josef Suk, and ...

, Ladislav Radimský, and others. Among politicians, he got Ladislav Feierabend, Juraj Slávik, Jozef Lettrich, Arnošt Heidrich,

Štefan Osuský Štefan Osuský (31 March 1889 – 27 September 1973) was an Austro-Hungarian born Slovak lawyer, diplomat, politician and university professor. Biography Osuský was born in March 1889 in Brezová pod Bradlom, in the Nitra County of the A ...

. Among the founding members there were also Joseph Hašek (father of Eliska Haskova Coolidge) and Francis Schwarzenberg.

Society's periodicals

The society publishes a quarterly newsletter ''SVU NEWS/ ZPRÁVY'', and an English scholarly journal ''KOSMAS''. During the communist era in Czechoslovakia, the society published a

Czech language Czech (; Czech ), historically also Bohemian (; ''lingua Bohemica'' in Latin), is a West Slavic language of the Czech–Slovak group, written in Latin script. Spoken by over 10 million people, it serves as the official language of the Czech Re ...

and

Slovak language Slovak () , is a West Slavic language of the Czech–Slovak group, written in Latin script. It is part of the Indo-European language family, and is one of the Slavic languages, which are part of the larger Balto-Slavic branch. Spoken by appro ...

literary and humanistic periodical: ''PROMĚNY - PREMENY/ METAMORPHOSES'' for nearly thirty years, which included articles by forbidden authors.

Conferences

The society held its First World Congress in Washington, D.C. in 1962. Since then, every even year, the society has convened a world congress. The program includes presentations of scholarly papers, discussion panels, concerts, artistic exhibits and social events. The society has established the practice of convening specialized conferences every other year, usually in between the World Congresses.

References

External links

SVU Official Website
{{Authority control 1958 establishments in Washington, D.C. History organizations based in the United States Heritage organizations International friendship associations Ethnic studies organizations Czech-American history Czech-American culture in Washington, D.C. Slovak-American history Organizations established in 1958 Educational organizations based in the United States Czechoslovakia–United States relations

Founding personalities

Society's periodicals

Conferences

See also

References

External links