Tomas and Charlotte: Together in Life and Love (PHOTOS)

Uzhgorod.in continues the tradition of telling readers interesting facts from the love stories of our famous fellow countrymen. We talked about the personal lives of Sandor Petofi and Julia Sendreyi, Bela Bartok, Augustine Voloshin and Irina Petrik, Laszlo Otsyl and Luiza Pereni, etc. Today, we tell the love story of another outstanding person, who had a great impact on the history of our land – Tomas Masaryk and his wife Charlotte.

Almost everyone heard about Tomas Masaryk, a well-known politician and first President of the Czechoslovak Republic, in the context of his work. It is no secret that he has contributed to the entry of the Subcarpathian region into Czechoslovakia, which in turn has led to significant political and social changes in Uzhgorod, the capital of the region.

As a heritage of this period, we also have a very valuable architectural complex Halahov, which today is one of the most popular and known in the city.

The activities of Masaryk, without a doubt, left their mark in history, but his personal life was not less impressive.And it is unknown whether his career would have been as it was if it hadn’t been for the support of his wife and children. 

A strong man needs a strong woman, and Tomas was extremely lucky in this matter. The decisive event, that changed his life, took place in 1877 in Leipzig. Intelligent, educated and strong-willed American Charlotte became her husband’s right hand and true advisor, and he could rely on her in everything. She encouraged him to act, and he appreciated her so much that used the maiden name of his wife, Garrig, as his middle name. And so he became Tomas Garrig Masaryk.

Together, they had 6 children: Alice, Herbert, Eleonora, Jan, Olga and Anna (died in infancy). Each of their descendants took an active public position, for which they suffered. Son Jan was Czechoslovakia’s foreign minister and died in mysterious circumstances after the communist coup.

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Daughter Olga went with her father in exile, when they could no longer stay in the country because of their political convictions

And daughter Alice never escaped imprisonment.

But despite all that, close family ties and support were maintained. Charlotte became the soul of all that, helping her family in any way she could. But the women’s heart could not bear the early death of the favorite son Herbert from typhus, the misfortunes that befell her children, and the separation from Tomas.

Psychological problems severely crippled the woman. She died in 1923. Tomas survived her by 14 years. Work and their children were the only comfort for him.