| SVU |
CZECHOSLOVAK SOCIETY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES |
This is a copy of the original SVU Home Page
(i.e. prior to October 28, 2000)
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Latest Update: 12 January 2000
Postal Address
1703 Mark Lane
Rockville, Maryland 20852-4106
FEEFHS Representative: Miloslav
Rechcigl, Jr.
Please use the above postal address
Phone: (301) 881-7222
FAX: (301) 881-9667
e-mail address: rechcigl@aol.com
SVU Executive Board
Preliminary Announcement - 20th SVU
World Congress
Aims of SVU: 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 and the Slovak Republics.
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.
Historical Background: 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 expression. The SVU wanted to provide a forum for the 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.
Future Perspectives: Since the fall of the communist regime in Czechoslovakia in
1989, 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. This emphasis will continue in the future.
The Society also recognizes, however, its obligations toward Czech and Slovak emigrants,
as well as members of other ethnic groups who migrated from the territory of the former
Czechoslovakia, and is committed to supporting certain 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
and 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.
SVU Membership: Present membership of the Society is some 2,000. It is scattered
throughout the world, but concentrated in the U.S., Canada and Europe, the majority being
associated with academic or research institutions. Among the more than sixty names on the
SVU Honor Roll are outstanding individuals such as historian Francis Dvornik, linguist
Roman Jakobson, conductor Rafael Kubelik, artist Oskar Kokoschka, mathematician Vaclav
Hlavaty, literary scholar Rene Wellek, pianist Rudolf Firkusny, social scientist Karl W.
Deutsch, playwright and President Vaclav Havel, novelist Milan Kundera, poet and Nobel
Prize laureate Jaroslav Seifert, composer Eugen Suchon and scores of others of
international renown.
SVU 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; Toronto,
Montreal, Ottawa, Edmonton, Vancouver; Melbourne, Sydney, Perth; Wellington; Pretoria;
London, Stuttgart, Basel-Bern-Zurich, Vienna; Prague, Brno, Bratislava, Kosice, and
Presov; and more recently in Tokyo, Japan.
SVU Activities: To date, the Society has organized nineteen SVU World Congresses,
six European and twenty-one American and Canadian conferences, over thirty art exhibits,
more than fifty musical and drama productions, and more than twenty book displays.
Furthermore, it has published over eighty books and monographs, four periodicals, besides
sponsoring or providing support to some fifty other publications. In addition to the
above, each chapter has organized meetings, lectures, discussions, exhibits and social
functions.
SVU New Project: Surveying Historic
Sites and Monuments
Research in Ethnic History and Genealogy: Individual members regularly present and publish
papers on various aspects of ethnic history, including genealogy. Among the topics covered
have been such titles as: In the Footprints of the First Czech Immigrants in America;
The Renewal and the Formation of the Moravian Church in America; Bohemian and Moravian
Pioneers in Colonial America; Early Jewish Immigrants in America from the Czech Historic
Lands and Slovakia; The Descendants of Augustine Herman: The First Lord of Bohemia Manor;
The Demuth Genealogy Revisited: A Moravian Brethren Family from Czechoslovakia; U.S.
Legislators with Czechoslovak Roots From Colonial Times to Present, With Genealogical
Lineages etc..
SVU Conferences: Annually, usually focused on a specific topic. Last conference on "Czech and Slovak America: Quo
Vadis?", held at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis during 24-26 April,
1999, was organized in conjunction with the visit of Vaclav Havel, President of Czech
Republic.
SVU World Congresses: Bi-annually. A typical program includes presentations of
scholarly papers, concerts, art exhibits and social events. The lectures, seminars and
symposia, as well as printed materials are generally presented in English. The first 15
World Congresses were held in the U.S. or Canada. The 1992 and 1994 Congresses were held
in Prague, and 1996 in Brno, Czech Republic. The 1998 SVU World Congress was organized in
Bratislava, Slovakia.
The 20th SVU World Congress, with the central theme "Civil Society and Democracy
into the New Millennium," will be held in the year 2000 in Washington, DC at American
University.
SVU Monographic Publications: Czech
Americans in Transition
SVU Periodic Publications:
Zpravy SVU (SVU News) - six times per year
Newsletter Editor: Andrew Elias, 10713 Howerton Ave., Fairfax, VA 22030; Phone /
FAX: (703) 273-8565
Kosmas: Czechoslovak and Central European Journal - semiannually The Journal
is devoted primarily to publishing scholarly research in the humanities and social
sciences with emphasis on Czech and Slovak developments.
Journal Editor: Bruce Garver, 231-A Arts & Sciences Hall, Dept. of History,
University of Nebraska at Omaha, Omaha, NE 68182-0213; Phone: (402) 554-4824; FAX: (402)
554-2794 e-mail: bgarver@unomaha.edu
SVU Biographical Directory - irregular The 8th edition of this most popular SVU's
publication is in preparation. New members can still be included.
Directory Editors: Eva Rechcigl and Miloslav Rechcigl, Jr., 1703 Mark Lane,
Rockville, MD 20852-4106; Phone: (301) 881-7222; FAX: (301) 881-9667
SVU Fellows: In recognition of outstanding record as scholars and scientists, the
Society may elect selected SVU members as Fellows of the Society, upon recommendations of
their peers.
Qualifications for SVU Membership: Although the Society takes pride as 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.
SVU Dues: Individuals - US$35.00 per year; Spouses - US$5.00; Students - US$5.00;
Individuals in Czech Republic and Slovakia: US$10.00; Institutions - US$100.00.
Persons / Institutions interested in membership should contact: Eva Vanek, SVU,
Secretary-General, 11214 Field Circle, Spottsylvania, VA 22553; Phone (540) 972-2217; FAX:
(540) 972-2250; e-mail: geovanekmvx@webtv.net
Subscription to Kosmas: SVU Members: US$22.00; Other individuals US$27.00;
Institutions: US$30.00
Order from: Mr. Layne Pierce, Managing Editor, Kosmas, Dept. of Modern Languages and
Literatures, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68588-0315; Phone: (402)
472-1336; FAX: (402) 472-0327; e-mail: mzs@unlinfo.unl.edu
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