Kamil Krofta

Kamil Krofta

Kamil Krofta in 1936
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Czechoslovakia
In office
29 February 1936 – 4 October 1938
Prime Minister Milan Hodža
Preceded by Milan Hodža
Succeeded by František Chvalkovský
Personal details
Born (1876-07-17)17 July 1876
Plzeň, Austria-Hungary
Died 16 August 1945(1945-08-16) (aged 69)
Vráž, Czechoslovakia
Nationality Czech
Occupation Diplomat

Kamil Krofta (17 July 1876 – 16 August 1945) was Czech historian and diplomat.[1]

Life and career

Born and schooled in Plzeň, he studied philosophy in Prague starting in 1894, then from 1896 to 1899 in Vienna. From 1899 to 1901 he studied in the Vatican Archives. From 1901 he worked at the National Archives. Beginning in 1911, he was a professor of Austrian history at Charles University, focusing on Slovak history after 1919 in the Jaroslav Goll school of thought. He was elected to the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences in 1916.

In 1919, he was appointed ambassador to The Vatican and was instrumental in the recognition of Czechoslovakia. From 1921 to 1925 he resided as ambassador in Vienna and lectured at Comenius University in Bratislava. From 1925 to 1927 he was ambassador in Berlin. In 1927, he became Director of the Presidium of the Foreign Ministry under the Minister of Foreign Affairs Edvard Beneš. Krofta was a Beneš supporter, and shaped the Beneš administration's Czechoslovak foreign policy (Honajzer 1995, 27).

Krofta served as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 29 February 1936 to 4 October 1938 for the first Czechoslovak Republic.[2] He succeeded Milan Hodža.[3]

Krofta became an active participant in the resistance during the German occupation of Czechoslovakia in World War II through the National Revolution Preparatory Assembly (Přípravný národní Revoluční výbor). In 1944, was he arrested and initially held at Pankrác Prison. He was later moved to Theresienstadt concentration camp and remained incarcerated until the camp was liberated in May 1945. He died in Prague a few months later as a result of the abuse and neglect during imprisonment.

Selected publications

References

  1. ↑ Honajzer George (1995). Vznik a rozpad vládních koalic v Československu v letech 1918-1938. [Establishment and dissolution of government coalitions in Czechoslovakia in the years 1918-1938.] Prague: Orbis.
  2. ↑ Staff report (May 29, 1936). Krofta Upholds League. New York Times
  3. ↑ Vadnay, Emil (October 5, 1938). SLOVAKS' DEMANDS SHAKE UP CABINET; Czechs Give More Posts to Settle Differences With National Group TWO GENERALS ARE ADDED Shift Is Expected to Help in Effecting an Accord With Germany Slovak Minister Quits Slovak Legion in Vienna. New York Times
Government offices
Preceded by
Milan Hodža		 Minister of Foreign Affairs of Czechoslovakia
1936–1938 		Succeeded by
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