The Slovak Embassy in Washington DC is preparing to unveil a new sculpture - a bust of the renowned Slovak politician, astronomer, aviator, army general and diplomat Milan Rastislav Štefánik. According to Slovak Ambassador to the US Ivan Korčok, the purpose of the bust is to draw attention to the important work of Štefánik, and through him to Slovakia and its history, which is longer than some realize. "What impelled me was my visit to the Czech and Slovak Museum in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where I decided I wanted to have Slovakia even more represented - and what better representative than Milan Rastislav Štefánik," Korčok told the TASR News Agency.
Although Štefánik was active mainly in Europe - in particular Italy, France and Russia - he also participated in significant negotiations in the United States. "Of particular importance was his trip to Washington and New York in 1917," continued Korčok, "when he managed to obtain the approval of US government officials to allow Czechs and Slovaks to join the Czechoslovak army that Štefánik was building. He also spoke with Czechs and Slovaks to get their support, which proved to be crucial for the establishment of Czechoslovakia," Korčok concluded. Štefánik will also receive a permanent and larger exhibition in the Cedar Rapids museum, which will be unveiled on November 21, when the museum will host a major event on the occasion of the anniversary of the 1989 Velvet Revolution.
The bust itself was sculpted by Klára Sever, a sculptor from Slovakia who has successfully worked in the United States for decades. The Slovak embassy also has plans to include a second bust of Milan Rastislav Štefánik in a public space in Washington, where Tomáš Masaryk - one of the founders of Czechoslovakia and its first president - also has a statue.
