Junák

Junák - český skaut
Junák - Czech Scouting
Country	Czech Republic
Founded	1911
Membership	53,000
Chief Scout	Marek Baláš
Chief Guide	Eva Měřínská
President	Josef Výprachtický
Affiliation	World Organization of the Scout Movement, World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts
Website skaut.cz

Junák - český skaut (Junák - Czech Scouting), is the internationally recognized organization of Scouts and Guides of the Czech Republic. Founded in 1911, Junák - český skaut is the largest organisation of children and youth in the nation, with a membership of 50,439 (for 2014).

A voluntary, non-political civic organization, without restriction to membership, Junák was founded in 1911 by Antonín Benjamin Svojsík, who, after visiting British Scouts, wanted to establish a similar movement in his homeland. In 1910, inspired by the writings of Baden-Powell, Svojsík wrote Základy junáctví ("The Foundations of Scouting"), the first handbook for Scouts already operating in the Czech lands. In that book, he combined Baden-Powell's system of education; ideas of the American writer, traveller and painter Ernest Thompson Seton (founder of Woodcraft); and the traditions of the Czech nation. He followed this with an experimental camp in 1912. The participants walked the entire 200 km distance on foot, and their luggage was brought there on a single large push-cart. In the quickly developing world of Scouting at the time, Junák-Český skaut provided a model to be followed by many other developing national associations.

Scouting in the Czech Republic has a long and distinguished history. The independent organization Junák was established in June 1914, the same year its first Scouting newsletter was issued; the chairman was Dr. Čeněk Klika and Svojsík was the Chief Scout. A month later World War I started and many leaders were called up to fight. In January 1915, the first Girl Scouts were introduced, under the leadership of Vlasta Koseová, and shortly thereafter, a section for Guide Education was established. Dr. Anna Berkovcová became the Chief Guide. The same summer, the first Girl Guide company "Anemones" held a camp on the banks of river Vltava.

In 1918, at the creation of the Czechoslovak Republic, the Czech Scouts offered their services, and helped the established government with many things, they kept patrol over important buildings and sites, but they are best known for their mail delivery service, delivering official mail in Prague. They had their own stamps, the first Scout stamps in the world, which are very rare and valuable today among stamp-collectors. On December 21, 1918, "Czech Scout mail" was restored, due to the arrival of President Masaryk from exile. The ranks of Scouting grew rapidly in the new country, and in 1922 a National Scout festival took place in Prague to commemorate 10 years of Scouting. Following the end of World War I, the different associations within Czechoslovakia came together in one united national association, and the Czechoslovakian Scout and Guide Federation was among the charter members of the World Organization of the Scout Movement in 1922, with Svojsík elected to the World Committee.