Eastern Slovakia
Slovak and Carpatho-Rusyn Genealogical Research
Dr. Miloslav Rechcigl
At the General Assembly meeting in Bratislava, convoked on the occasion of the
19th World Congress of the Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences (SVU) on
July 7, 1998, results were announced of the recent elections of the Society's
officers for the 1998-2000 period. Miloslav Rechcigl, who was the Society's
President for the last four years, remains at the helm of the Society for the
next two years. This is actually his fifth term, the longest time held by any
SVU President, having also served in 1974-1978 period.
Dr. Rechcigl has been involved in the Society's affairs since the earliest
days, as the closest collaborator of Dr. Jaroslav Nemec who gave the impetus
for establishing the Society, initially known under the name Czechoslovak
Society of Arts and Sciences in America. Mila Rechcigl, as he likes to be
called, was initiated into the work of the Society in 1959 when he was elected
Secretary of the newly then founded Washington, D.C. Chapter, under the
Presidency of Dr. Ladislav K. Feierabend. From his close association with Dr.
Jaroslav Nemec, the First Secretary General of the Society, was borne the idea
of organizing the first Society's Congress, convened in Washington, D.C. in
1962. In spite of his young age, Rechcigl was put in charge of preparing the
congress program, under the guidance of Professors Vaclav Hlavaty, Rene
Wellek, and Vratislav Busek. As it turned out, this arrangement was only a
formality because the three-member Advisory Board had full confidence in young
Rechcigl and let him essentially "run the whole show." The Congress was a
resounding success. Having realized the historical importance of the event,
Rechcigl took it upon himself to edit the papers presented at the congress and
prepare them for publication. It was also he who arranged their publication
with the leading publishing house in the Netherlands, Mouton & Co., under the
title The Czechoslovak Contribution to World Culture (1964), at no cost to the
Society.The successful story repeated itself two years later when Rechcigl
organized the Second SVU Congress, this time at Columbia University in New
York. The result of this eminently successful congress was two voluminous
books, entitled Czechoslovakia Past and Present (1968), published again by
Mouton and Co., under Rechcigl's editorship. His keen interest and natural
knack for publications led the Society to entrust him with its entire
publication program which led to his election to a newly created post of Vice
President for Publications. During his tenure the Society published a series
of important titles, most of which were published by various University
presses at their own expense.
In 1974, when the SVU came into financial straits, the Society turned to
Rechcigl for help, electing him the youngest SVU President ever. He was then
barely thirty-four years old. Through careful planning and sound management,
he was able to turn things around, and succeeded in saving the Society from
bankruptcy and changing it into a viable and prosperous organization. During
his presidency the Society convened in 1976 one of its most successful
congresses, commemorating the U.S. Bicentennial year. Rechcigl was easily
reelected to a second two-year term, following which he decided to withdraw
from the SVU administrative responsibilities in order that he could devote his
attention to his long-term interest in history of Czechs and Slovaks abroad.
Following the Velvet Revolution in 1989, Rechcigl came on an active scene and
played a leading role in the newly established SVU Commission for Cooperation
with Czechoslovakia. He also made the initial contact with the Czechoslovak
Academy of Sciences and the Council of the Learned Societies. Jointly with
Prof. Zdenek Slouka, the Executive Director of the then newly activated SVU
Research Institute, he conducted a series of successful workshops at Charles
University and the Czech Academy of Sciences on management of research and the
art of "grantsmanship," with the participation of leading scientists from the
Czechlands and Slovakia.
The Society turned to Rechcigl's leadership again in 1994, at the time when
general apathy set among the members, partly because of the general feeling
that the Society has done its job and that time has come to cease and desist,
and partly because of the disenchantment with the political situation in
Czechoslovakia and its successor states, the Czech and the Slovak Republics.
As a new president, Rechcigl together with his newly Elected Executive Board,
felt that it will take years before the two countries rebound and reach the
status the Czechs and Slovaks enjoyed at the height of the first Czechoslovak
Republic, and concluded that the Society can still play a significant role in
helping intelligentsia and other professionals, particularly young people, in
both countries. Under his leadership the Executive Board exerted a great
effort into revamping the Society's finances and putting them on solid ground,
and on restoring confidence among the membership, as a whole. In the last four
years the Society was revitalized, its membership rolls increased and several
new chapters organized. The SVU English periodical Kosmas resumed its
publication and two extraordinary conferences and two pivotal SVU world
congresses were held. There is every expectation that the Society's successful
path will continue as it approaches a new millennium.
Persons interested in joining the Society, or learning more about its
activities can read more about the SVU and its work.
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