Milan Rastislav Štefánik (; 21 July 1880 – 4 May 1919) was a Slovak politician,Štefá diplomat, aviator and astronomer. During World War I, he served at the same time as a general in the French Army and as Minister of War for Czechoslovakia. As one of the leading members of the Czechoslovak National Council (the resistance government), he contributed decisively to the cause of Czechoslovak sovereignty, since the status of Czech- and Slovak-populated territories was one of those in question until shortly before the disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, in 1918.
His personal motto was "To Believe, To Love, To Work" (Veriť, milovať, pracovať).
Background
Štefánik was born in Košariská, Austria-Hungary (now Slovakia), on 21 July 1880. He had 11 brothers and sisters, two of whom died at a young age. His father, Pavol Štefánik, was a local Lutheran pastor, and his mother was Albertína Jurenková. He attended schools in Bratislava, Sopron and Szarvas.
In 1898, he began studying construction engineering in Prague. In 1900, he transferred his studies to Charles University, where he attended lectures in astronomy, physics, optics, mathematics and philosophy. For the 1902 summer semester, he went to university in Zürich. The Prague years had a great impact on Štefánik because he met many important personalities there. The philosophy lectures were given by Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, the future first president of Czechoslovakia, who inspired Štefánik with the idea of co-operation between the Czechs and the Slovaks. Furthermore, Štefánik very actively participated in the work of the Slovak student association, Detvan, (and within Detvan, the so-called Hlasists group); he became acquainted with Vavro Šrobár. His studies were financed largely by Czech associations, including Českoslovanská jednota (Czechoslavic Unity) and Radhošť since he could not afford them himself. In Prague, he wrote political and artistic texts in which he tried to inform the Czechs of the disastrous situation of the Slovaks at that time. He graduated in 1904 with a doctorate in philosophy and with knowledge of astronomy: his thesis is about a star that was discovered in the Cassiopeia constellation in 1572.
Scientist
In 1904, he went to Paris to find a job in astronomy with a recommendation from a Czech professor who was known in Paris. Initially, he had no money and no command of French, but he was nevertheless able to obtain a job at the famous Paris-Meudon Observatory after its director, Pierre Janssen, one of the cofounders of astrophysics, saw Štefánik's talent. Štefánik owed to Janssen and Camille Flammarion his social, political and scientific career. The observatory was the most important centre for astronomy at the time so he gained massive prestige from his job.
Between 20 June and 4 July 1905, Štefánik climbed Mont Blanc (he did so several more times in the following years) to observe the Moon and Mars. Then, he took part in an official French expedition to observe and record a full eclipse of the Sun in Alcossebre, Spain. He thus established his own reputation in French scientific society. He worked with Gaston Millochau, a member of the Académie Française, which made some of its members read his work. His studies and the results of his observations were published in reports to the Académie, and he received several awards for them. Later, he was invited to an international astronomer conference in Oxford on solar research. Between 1906 and 1908, he was co-director of the Mont Blanc observatories company.
In 1907, Štefánik received the Prix Jules Janssen, the highest award of the Société astronomique de France, the French astronomical society.
At the end of 1907, however, Janssen died and Štefánik lost his job. Since 1908, he had been charged by the French authorities with astronomical and meteorological observations, (mainly observations of solar eclipses) and political tasks in various countries all over the world, including (Algeria, Morocco, Turkistan, Russia, India, the United States, Panama, Brazil, Ecuador, Australia, New Zealand, Tahiti, Fiji, and Tonga). In Tahiti, he also built an observatory and a network of meteorological stations (rumour has it that much of his time in the Pacific Ocean was spent on spying on German positions). Between the trips, he regularly returned home to Košariská (the last time in 1913 for his father's funeral). In South America (especially in the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador), he had an opportunity to show his diplomatic skills for the first time.