Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences (SVU)
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Most scholars of the Central European region now readily recognize the acronym SVU which in Czech and Slovak languages stands for the Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences. Since its inception in 1958, the SVU has grown into a respected international organization with chapters in major cities around the world. Although the Society until recently functioned almost exclusively in the West, ever since the peaceful 1989 “Velvet Revolution”, it has expanded its activities to Czechoslovakia and its succession states, the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic. The Society has its headquarters in Washington, D.C.
The SVU is a nonprofit, nonpolitical, cultural organization, dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge, the free dissemination of ideas, and the fostering of contacts among people. It brings together scholars, scientists, artists, writers, students, lawyers, businessmen, and others throughout the world who have a professional, family or other interest in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, their history, peoples, or their cultural and intellectual contributions.
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[edit] History of the Society
The Society was officially organized in 1958, at the initiative of Czech and Slovak intellectuals living abroad, at a time when the communist regime in Czechoslovakia had repudiated the country’s historical traditions and suppressed free expressions. The SVU wanted to provide a forum for free development of Czechoslovak culture in exile and make the world aware of the Czech and Slovak cultural traditions which date back more than a millennium. Its activities, as outlined in the original bylaws, consisted of supporting and coordinating the educational, scholarly, literary and artistic endeavors of the Czechoslovak intelligentsia abroad. However, the Society was subsequently broadened into an organization open to all individuals, regardless of ethnic origin, interested in fostering Slovak and / or Czech culture. Following the end of the communist regime in 1989, the SVU's functions greatly expanded. Now, in addition to its original mission, the Society has become a bridge between Czech and Slovak professionals and those in other countries. It allows scholars abroad to benefit from contact with their Czech and Slovak colleagues, as well as helping to reintegrate the intellectual life of these two nations into the main stream of world science, arts and letters, from which they were separated for so long by political barriers. Toward this end, the Society has been instrumental in assisting the fledgling democracies in reestablishing the normal functions of a free society, through material assistance, lectures, seminars, and workshops, and most of all, through the personal expertise and experience of its members..
The Society also recognizes, however, its obligations toward Czech Americans, Slovak Americans and other Czechs and Slovaks abroad, as well as members of other ethnic groups who migrated from the territory of the former Czechoslovakia, and is committed to supporting activities for the preservation of their cultural heritage and the fostering of their cultural contacts with the Czechlands and Slovakia.
Above all, the Society is interested in encouraging young people, whether they are Czech or Slovak students who want to enhance their educational opportunities abroad, or North American students or those of other nationalities who wish to make Czech and / or Slovak culture the focus of their professional careers.
[edit] The Society Membership
Present membership of the Society is some 3,000. It is scattered throughout the world, but concentrated in the U.S., Canada and Europe, the majority being associated with academic or research institutions. SVU members can be found in Argentina, Bolivia, Columbia, Grenada, Brazil, Venezuela, Guatemala, Jamaica, Costa Rica, Mexico, England, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium. Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Holland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Israel, Irak, Turkey, Australia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Japan, South Africa. Since the Velvet Revolution, a large membership has grown in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Among some one hundred names on the SVU Honor Roll are outstanding individuals, such as historian Francis Dvornik, historian Otakar Odlozilik, theologian and church historian Jaroslav Pelikan, linguist Roman Jakobson, conductor Rafael Kubelik, pianist Rudolf Firkusny, opera singer Jarmila Novotna, artist Oskar Kokoschka, mathematician Vaclav Hlavaty, literary scholar Rene Wellek, social scientist Karl W. Deutsch, playwright and President Vaclav Havel, novelist Egon Hostovsky, novelist Milan Kundera, writer Bohumil Hrabal, poet and Nobel Prize laureate Jaroslav Seifert, composer Eugen Suchon, and scores of others of international renown.
Although the Society takes pride in having in its midst many outstanding intellectuals and professionals, the Society is no elitist group. It is a democratic and open society that admits anyone who subscribes to its aims.
Governance: The general membership meets each year at the annual General Assembly, the highest statuary organ of the Society. Its governing bodies, the Executive Board and the Council, are elected every two years. All SVU officers work as volunteers and receive no compensation from the Society.
[edit] Governance
The general membership meets each year at the annual General Assembly, the highest statuary organ of the Society. Its governing bodies, the Executive Board and the Council, are elected every two years. All SVU officers work as volunteers and receive no compensation from the Society.
[edit] SVU Presidents
1958-62 Vaclav Hlavaty
1962-66 Rene Wellek
1966-68 Vaclav Hlavaty
1968-70 Jaroslav Nemec
1970-72 Jan V. Mladek
1972-74 Francis Schwarzenberg
1974-78 Mila Rechcigl
1978-80 Jan F. Triska
1980-84 Leopold J. Pospisil
1984-88 Jiri Nehnevajsa
1988-90 Igor V. Nabelek
1990-92 Jan F. Triska
1992-94 Zdenek J. Slouka
1994-2006 Mila Rechcigl
2006- Karel F. Raska
[edit] Local Chapters
Throughout its history, the Society has had numerous local chapters worldwide, including such locations as Washington, DC, Chicago, New York, Boston, Los Angeles, Albany, Cleveland, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Hartford, Central Texas, Minneapolis, Lincoln, NE, Spillville, IA, Miami, FL; Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Edmonton, Vancouver; Melbourne, Sydney, Perth; Wellington; Pretoria; London, Stuttgart, Basel-Bern-Zurich, Vienna; Prague, Brno, Plzen, Olomouc, Ceske Budejovice, Bratislava; Kosice, and Presov; and even in Tokyo, Japan.
[edit] World Congresses
The reputation of the Society was firmly established after its successful First World Congress, held April 20-22, 1962 in Washington, DC, and attended by more than 200 scholars, scientists, and artists from all over the world. There were some sixty papers read at these meetings, their subject ranging from linguistics to sociology and science. This was followed by the Second Congress on September 1l-l3, 1964, on the campus of Columbia University in New York City. This time, about 120 papers were presented by scholars - not just by the Society members but also by a number of invited guests from all over the United States, Canada, South America, Australia and Western Europe. The papers covered most major fields of intellectual endeavor, including history, literature and linguistics, music and fine arts, social sciences, and the biological and physical sciences.
Ever since then, every even year, the Society has convened a world congress. The program includes presentations of scholarly papers, discussion panels, concerts, artistic exhibits and social events. The lecture program covers a wide range of subjects and disciplines, providing platforms for vigorous exchanges of views. The lectures, seminars and symposia, as well as printed materials are generally presented in English.
The first fifteen world congresses were held in the U.S. or Canada, usually on university campuses. In 1992 the SVU Sixteenth World Congress was held for the first time in Prague and Bratislava, a major event bringing together more than 400 active participants from overseas and some 1,000 from Czechoslovakia. The Seventeenth World Congress, also held in Prague, had as its central theme "Czech and Slovak Contributions to World Culture". Practically all subsequent conferences were held in the Czech Republic or Slovakia. Thus the 1996 Congress was held in Brno, the 1998 Congress in Bratislava, the 2002 Congress in Plzen, the 2004 Congress in Olomouc and the 2006 Congress in Ceske Budejovice. In the Millennium year 2000, the SVU Congress was convened in Washington, DC.
[edit] Regional Conferences
The SVU has now established the practice of convening a special Regional Conference every other year, usually in between the World Congresses. These conferences are smaller than the world congresses and are usually focused on one specific topic. Thus in 1997, there was a conference in Texas on "Czech-American Transition- Challenges and Opportunities for the Future." In 1999, a conference entitled "Czech and Slovak America: Quo Vadis?", was held at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, in conjunction with the visit of President of Czech Republic Vaclav Havel. In 2001, there was a conference at the University of Nebraska with the general scheme "The Czech and Slovak Legacy in the America: Preservation of Heritage with the Accent on Youth." Another conference was convened in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in 2003, which was organized under the patronage of the Presidents of the Czech and Slovak Republics, Vaclav Klaus and Rudolf Schuster, respectively, at Coe College, and had as its general theme "The Czech and Slovak Presence in America: A Retrospective Look and Future Perspectives." And finally, in 2005, another conference was held in North Miami, Florida, with its central theme "Czech and Slovak Heritage on Both Sides of the Atlantic", which was co-sponsored by the US Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad under the aegis of both the Czech and Slovak Presidents, Vaclav Klaus and Ivan Gasparovic, respectively. A mention should also be made of a special "Working Conference on Czech & Slovak American Materials and their Preservation", held at the Czech and Slovak Embassies in Washington, DC in November 2003. It was an exceptionally successful conference which led to the establishment of the new Czech & Slovak American Archival Consortium (CSAAC).
[edit] Society Publications
For its members, and included in the membership dues, the SVU publishes a newsletter in the English and Czech/Slovak languages. In addition, the SVU members, as well as others, may subscribe to an English periodical of scholarly and literary substance, the semi-annual Kosmas - Czechoslovak and Central European Journal.
During the communist era in Czechoslovakia the Society published a Czech language and Slovak language literary and humanistic periodical: Promeny - Premeny (Metamorphoses) for nearly thirty years, which frequently included articles by forbidden authors and which was widely respected among intellectuals in the oppressed Czechoslovakia. A recently updated SVU Biographical Directory, now in 9th edition, lists over 3,000 biographical entries of members all over the world.
Among the Society’s monographs, mention should be made of Rene Wellek’s Essays on Czech Literature, the Anthology of Czech Poetry, edited by Alfred French, the voluminous SVU Congress Proceedings, edited by Mila Rechcigl, under the title, The Czechoslovak Contribution to World Culture and the two-volume set Czechoslovakia Past and Present, Joseph Chada’s The Czechs in the United States, Roman Jakobson’s Studies in Verbal Art, Matthew Spinka’s English translation of Jan Amos Komensky’s (Comenius) The Labyrinth of the World and the Paradise of the Heart, Peter Kussi’s translation of Arne Novák’s Czech Literature, and Anthology of Czech Prose, translated and edited by William E. Harkins, Vaclav Havel’s essays Do ruznych stran,: Eseje a clanky z let 1983-1989 and Charta 77, 1977-1989, edited by Vilem Precan.
More recent titles include: On All Fronts: Czechoslovaks in World War II, edited by Lewis M. White; Zdenka Fischmann’s Essays on Czech Music, edited by Dagmar White; The Taste of a Lost Homeland - An Anthology of Exile Poetry, edited by Vera Borkovec ; Czechs Americans in Transition, edited by Clinton Machann; Czech-American Historic Sites, Monuments, and Memorabilia and Czechoslovak American Archivalia, both edited by Mila Rechcigl; and Rechcigl’s Czechs and Slovaks in America.
[edit] Society Awards
Honorary Member - Honorary membership may be awarded to outstanding personalities who by their scientific or artistic works contributed significantly to the development of world culture. See SVU Honorary Members.
Founding Member - Founding membership may be awarded in recognition of exceptional service to the Society and/or the propagation of Czechoslovak culture. See SVU Founding Members.
SVU Fellow - Members of the Society may be elected Fellows of the Society in recognition of their outstanding record as scholars, scientists, educators, technologists, writers, or artists, or in other appropriate creative fields. See SVU Fellows.
Presidential Citation - Awarded to selected individuals and organizations by SVU President "in recognition of their work on behalf of the Society and its aims". See 2006 SVU Presidential Citations.
Student Award - Awarded annually as a part of an organized annual competition among undergraduate students and graduate students who have submitted the best essay dealing with some aspect of Czech and/or Slovak culture. See SVU Student Awards.
