Osuský, Štefan, b. 1889.

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

From the description of Stefan Osuský papers, 1901-1992. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 754870075

Stefan Osusky (1888- ) 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.

From the description of Papers, 1914-1937. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 62482736

Biographical Note

• 1889 March 31: Born in Brezová pod Bradlom, Slovakia
• 1906: Emigrated to the United States
• 1908 - 1910 : Studied theology in Springfield, Illinois
• 1914: Earned a Ph.D. degree in philosophy and psychology from the University of Chicago
• 1915: Received his law degree from the University of Chicago and opened his own practice in Chicago
• 1915 April: Chaired a joint meeting of Chicago Czechs and Slovaks and engaged himself zealously in the movement for a Czechoslovak state
• 1915 September 23: Appointed Slovak Secretary at the first conference of the Slovak League in Cleveland
• 1916 February 22: Elected vice-president at a convocation of the Slovak League in Chicago, and was chosen along with Gustav Košík to travel to Europe in order to influence the Czech National Council established in Paris. Meeting with Edvard Beneš in Paris, Osuský succeeded in changing the organization's name to "National Czecho-Slovak Council"
• 1917 - 1918 : Ran the Czechoslovak Information Office in Geneva, Switzerland, writing articles for the Allied press. Met with prominent figures in the national liberation movements, and dealt with German and Austrian agents like Heinrich Lammasch and Frederich Hertz
• 1918 September - 1921 January : Czechoslovak Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Great Britain
• 1919 January - 1920 : Attended the Paris Peace Conference as Secretary General of the Czechoslovak Delegation, and became a Delegate a few months later. Negotiated and signed his country's peace treaties with Hungary, Bulgaria, and Turkey. Was one of the signers of the Treaty of Trianon negotiated between Hungary and the Allied Powers on June 4, 1920
• 1919 November - 1932 : Czechoslovak representative in the Reparations Commission of the League of Nations. For a period of four years, also represented Greece, Poland, Romania, and Yugoslavia
• 1919 - 1937 : Czechoslovak Delegate in the Assembly of the League of Nations
• 1921 January - 1940 June : Czechoslovak Minister Plenipotentiary to France
• 1923 - 1937 : Chairman of the Supervisory Commission of the League of Nations
• 1934: Awarded the Karlík Prize (the Czechoslovak equivalent of the Nobel prize) for "exceptional services rendered to Czechoslovakia"
• 1936 - 1939 : Lectured at Charles University in Prague
• 1939 March 16: Refused to surrender the Czechoslovak Legation in Paris to the Germans after Hitler's occupation of Prague on March 15, 1939, and succeeded in maintaining his official position as Czechoslovak envoy, although bereft of both government and country
• 1939 October 2: Signed a treaty with the French Government regarding the formation/reconstruction of the Czechoslovak Army in France
• 1939 November 17: Appointed by Beneš to the newly formed Czechoslovak National Committee in Paris. Issued a mobilization order to Czechoslovak citizens residing in France, which resulted in the formation of two Czechoslovak infantry regiments (these, together with several hundred airmen, constituted a Czechoslovak army on French soil)
• 1940 June: After the fall of France, Osuský arranged for the transportation to England of several thousands of those troops and fled to London
• 1940 July - 1942 March : Minister of State of the Czechoslovak Government-in- Exile
• 1940 October 12: Appointed member of the State Council in London
• 1942 March 31: Removed from his post of Minister of State because of disagreements with Beneš's anti-Slovak and pro-Russian policies
• 1942 April 12: Resigned his post in the State Council
• 1942: Lectured at Oxford
• 1942 - 1945 : Wrote numerous articles about Beneš and his Provisional Government
• 1943: Vice-president of the 'Never Again' Association
• 1945 September: Moved to the United States
• 1945 September - 1946 : Went on an extensive lecture tour of the United States
• 1946 - 1950 : Visiting Professor of European Civilization and Culture at Colgate University, Hamilton, New York
• 1949 - 1960 : Ran Mid-European Law Project of the National Committee for a Free Europe (reports on changes in communist states)
• 1949 - 1973 : Engaged in anti-communist movement activities Broadcast for Radio Free Europe and Voice of America
• 1949 February: Co-founder and Chairman (later President) of the Council of Free Czechoslovakia
• 1950 - 1962 : Advisor, National Committee for a Free Europe
• 1952 - 1973 : Member, International Commission of Jurists
• 1952 November?: Founder of the Council of Free Jurists from Countries Behind the Iron Curtain
• 1954?: Founding member, Association of Captive European Nations Member, International Association of Democratic Lawyers Chairman, Council of Europe - European Political Community
• 1968 February 1921: Judge, Court of World Public Opinion - International Communism on Trial
• 1973 September 27: Died, Washington, D.C.

From the guide to the Štefan Osuský papers, 1901-1992, (Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace)