Lettrich, Jozef

Jozef Lettrich


(1905-1968)


He came from the village of Diviaky in the Turčianske Teplice district, his father was a miner. He studied at the grammar school in Martin and in 1925 finished his studies at the Faculty of Law of Comenius University in Bratislava. Already at that time he became a supporter of the Agrarian Party and an opponent of the claims for Slovak autonomy. After the proclamation of the Slovak state, he was briefly imprisoned for his political orientation. He worked as a lawyer and was active in various underground groups. In 1943, after signing the Christmas Agreement, he became a member of the underground SNR. At the time of the Uprising he was in charge of education. In 1945 he was elected chairman of the newly formed Democratic Party, which included mostly pre-war members of the Agrarian Party and, after the signing of the so-called April Agreement, members of Catholic movements. From 21 October 1945 to 16 May 1946 he served as a member of the Provisional National Assembly. After the elections of 1946 he became chairman of the National Council of National Assembly. After the communist-led coup in February 1948, he and his brother swam across the river near Vysoká nad Moravou to Austria and from there emigrated to the USA. Here he worked in the organizations Council of Free Czechoslovakia and the Permanent Conference of Slovak Exiles.
URL : https://www.valka.cz/Lettrich-Jozef-t17729#65089 Version : 0
Born 17.6.1905 Diviaky ( today part of Turčianske Teplice )


Died 29.11.1968 New York


He came from a poor background, had 8 siblings.



After attending the municipal school in Turčianske Teplice, he went on to the burgher school in Turčianske Svätom Martin.


In 1920 he transferred from the burgher school to the real grammar school in Turčianske Svätom Martin


In 1925 he graduated from the grammar school and in the autumn he entered the Faculty of Law of Comenius University in Bratislava


In April 1930 he was graduated to Doctor of Law


Until 1931 he was a court clerk in Bratislava


1931 - 1935 law clerk in Zvolen


1935-1937 legal officer of the Slovak General Credit Bank


1937 worked as head of the department of the Union of Peasant Mutual Treasuries


14.3.1939 for disagreement with the so-called Žilina Agreement of political parties on the autonomy of Slovakia he was briefly imprisoned, after his release he went underground, where he was active in the struggle for democracy in Slovakia


1943 together with Ján Ursín and Matej Josko he established cooperation with the left-wing resistance


In December 1943 he co-founded the Slovak National Council and was a signatory of the so-called Christmas Agreement


In August 1944, after the outbreak of the Uprising, he was elected to the presidency of the Slovak National Council, in charge of the Department of Education and Education


In the period June 1945 - February 1948 he was the chairman of the Slovak National Council and at the same time of the Democratic Party


11.3.1948 illegally left the republic to Austria and via London to the USA


From 1949 in the USA he lectured at several universities until his death


1949 - 1954 Vice-Chairman of the Council for a Free Czechoslovakia


1963 - 1969 Chairman of the Permanent Conference of Slovak Democratic Exiles


Since 1968 President of the Assembly of European Disenfranchised Peoples


29.11.1969 died in New York


14.9.1990 the urn with his remains was placed in the National Cemetery in Martina


In 1991 he was awarded the Order of T.G.Masaryk II. degree



Author of the book History of Modern Slovakia




Source:
www.hrad.cz
www.osobnosti.sk
URL : https://www.valka.cz/Lettrich-Jozef-t17729#321584 Version : 0
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