Paris remains however light-house: Influences of France in lifes of Edvard and Hana Beneš before 1919
Abstrakt
The political carrier of Edvard Beneš, the key figure of the First Czechoslovak Resistance Movement and the interwar minister of foreign affairs, covers almost totally the first half of the 20th century and it can be labelled without hesitation as an international one. It was however in France, during the First World War where the political stellar of Beneš was born.
Based on the Beneš´ war diaries and correspondence, the paper tries to analyse his relation to France and lights up less known circumstances of his ascendance to the high levels of European diplomacy. The article examines as well the destiny of Beneš´ wife, Hana, who he met in Paris before war and shared with a very sentimental and intellectual connection to Paris and the whole country during his entire life.
After war, the Beneš´s adopted a lifestyle they themselves considered to be a French one, combining modernity, progress but also traditional elegance. The authors therefore reveal more private character of Beneš´ Paris´stay.