Event in Prague commemorates Czechoslovakia’s founding father Štefánik

Dozens of people gathered on Prague’s Petřín Hill on Sunday to commemorate the 144th anniversary of the birth of Milan Rastislav Štefánik, one of the founding fathers of Czechoslovakia.

The participants, who included the Slovak Ambassador to Czechia, Ingrid Brocková, and representatives of Sokol, laid flowers at the statue of the Slovak astronomer and politician.

Štefáni was born on July 21, 1880. He first studied in Prague where he met his professor and future collaborator Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk. He later moved to France and together with Masaryk and Edvard Beneš endeavored to establish an independent Czechoslovak state.