Description: 1911 postcard SIGNED by Edvard Benes, later President of Czechoslovakia A postcard from 1911 handwritten and SIGNED by Dr. Edvard Benes, later President of Czechoslovakia. The card is postmarked "London W.C. Jul 19 11 B 7:30 p.m." It is addressed to Mr. J. Loucek in Prague. The front of the card is a color photo of the Tower of London. There is an old fold at the lower left-hand corner of the front of the card (and, thus, the lower right-hand corner of the back). The stamp has been removed, but that does not affect Dr. Benes's text. There is some staining on the left-hand side as shown in photo, possibly due to age. Here’s the best effort at a translation… “"Dear Mr. Souček, all of the things and correspondence, revue, newspaper etc. I received at the school, please keep it until I come, unless it was already handled somehow. Thank you in advance. [unclear] Beneš” Edvard Beneš (1884 – 1948) was a Czech politician and statesman who served as the president of Czechoslovakia from 1935 to 1938, and again from 1945 to 1948. He also led the Czechoslovak government-in-exile 1939 to 1945 during World War II. Wikipedia offers a lengthy biography of Benes, of which only small portions are quoted here. Interested readers are referred to that article for further information. As president, Beneš faced two major crises, which both resulted in his resignation. His first resignation came after the Munich Agreement and subsequent German occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1938, which brought his government into exile in the United Kingdom. The second came about with the 1948 Communist coup, which created the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. Before his time as president, Beneš was also the first foreign affairs minister (1918–1935) and the fourth prime minister (1921–1922) of Czechoslovakia. A member of the Czechoslovak National Social Party, he was known as a skilled diplomat. On 14 August 1948, the Soviet and Czechoslovak media launched a campaign of vilification against Beneš, accusing him of being an enemy of the Soviet Union and claimed that he refused a Soviet offer of unilateral military assistance in September 1938 because he wanted the Munich Agreement imposed on Czechoslovakia. On his deathbed, Beneš became furious about the claim the Soviet Union had offered to help unilaterally in 1938 with the former presidential chancellor writing: "He would like to know when, by whom and to whom was the offer made". Benes died in 1948 after seeing his life's work undone by the Communist coup in Czechoslovakia. Our father owned two items signed by Benes: this postcard and a book published in 1944 commemorating Benes's visit to the United States and Canada. Please check our other listings, as we are listing the book separately. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Our father was a bibliophile who collected rare books, letters, and ephemera for more than 60 years. For now and into the foreseeable future, we will be listing rare paper items from his estate. Take a look at all our items for sale. We combine shipping upon request. Please LET US KNOW if you’ve purchased multiple items so we can combine.
Price: 225 USD
Location: Slingerlands, New York
End Time: 2024-09-26T21:53:29.000Z
Shipping Cost: 10 USD
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Item Specifics
All returns accepted: ReturnsNotAccepted
Industry: Historical
Signed by: Edvard Benes
Signed: Yes
