Eduard Benes

Benes, Eduard (1884–1948), co-founder, with Thomas Masaryk, of the Czechoslovak Republic. He held the posts of foreign minister (1918–35), prime minister (1921–22), president (1935–38 and 1946–48), and head of the government-in-exile (1940–45). His appeals to Great Britain and France in 1938 failed to prevent Hitler's occupation of the Sudetenland. He died after the 1948 Communist coup.

See also: Czechoslovakia.