Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk

The first Czechoslovak President:

Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk

The age of Masaryk was an age of liberalism and nationalism, ideologies which called for political freedom and national independence. Being a true son of hi age, and member of one of Austria-Hungary`s unrepresented nationalities, Masaryk picked up this challange and brought his ideas to their logical conclusion in the foudation of Czechoslovakia.

Education and early Career

The son of Slovak father and Germanized Czech mother, Masaryk was born on March 7, 1850, near Hodonín (Göding), Moravia, on the imperial estate where his father, a coachman, was employed. Given the low social position of his parents, his education got off to rather rocky start, and for a while it seemed that he would become a blachsmith. But after studying at several local village schools and at Brno, Masaryk completed his secondary education in Vienna in 1872, where he then entered the university. Receiving his doctorate in philosophy 4 years later, he spent a year at Leipzig (1876-1877), took a brief excursion to America to get married (1877-1878), and than returned to Vienna to become a lecturer at the university.