140th birth anniversary of Milan Rastislav Štefánik

Exactly 140 years ago, on the 21 of July 1880, one of Slovakia's most important personalities, Milan Rastislav Štefánik, was born. On the occasion of his birthday several Slovak politicians, including president Zuzana Čaputová and prime minister Igor Matovič, have commemorated Milan Rastislav Štefánik at various places of homage in Slovakia.

Milan Rastislav Stefanik was a politician, soldier, diplomat, aviator and astronomer who participated in the resistance of Slovaks abroad during World War I. He organised the Czecho-Slovak legions, and together with Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk and Edvard Beneš was one of the key figures involved in the establishment of the first Czechoslovakia in 1918. He perished on May 4, 1919, in a plane crash near Ivanka pri Dunaji (Bratislava region).