Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk
| Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk | |
|---|---|
 |
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| 1st President of Czechoslovakia | |
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In office 14 November 1918 – 14 December 1935 |
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| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Edvard Beneš |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
7 March 1850 Hodonín, Austrian Empire (now Czech Republic) |
| Died | 14 September 1937 (aged 87) Lány, Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic) |
| Spouse(s) | Charlotte Garrigue |
| Children |
Alice (1879-1966) Herbert (1880-1915) Jan (1886-1948) Olga (1891-1978) |
| Alma mater | University of Vienna |
| Profession | Philosopher |
| Religion | Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren |
| Signature |  |
Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk (Czech: [ˈtomaːʃ ˈɡarɪk ˈmasarɪk]), sometimes called Thomas Masaryk in English (7 March 1850 – 14 September 1937), was a Czechoslovak politician, sociologist and philosopher, who as an eager advocate of Czechoslovak independence during World War I became the founder and first President of Czechoslovakia, and thus referred to as "President liberator". He originally wished to reform the Austro-Hungarian monarchy into a democratic federal state, but during the First World War he began to favour the abolition of the monarchy and, with the help of the Allied Powers, eventually succeeded.
Masaryk was born to a poor working-class family in the predominantly Catholic city of Hodonín, Moravia (in the region of Moravian Slovakia, today in the Czech Republic). He grew up in the village of Čejkovice, in South Moravia, later moving to Brno to study.
His father Jozef Masaryk (Masárik), an illiterate carter (later steward), was a Slovak from the Hungarian part of Austria-Hungary (after 1918 became Slovakia the eastern part of Czechoslovakia), his mother Teresie Masaryková (née Kropáčková) was a Moravian of Slavic origin but with German education. They married on 15 August 1849.
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