Stèle commémorative Milan Ratislav Stefanik

A bronze bust of Milan Rastislav Štefánik rests on a stone pillar near the Avenue Kléber. Štefánik was a Slovak astronomer, a French general, and a key architect of the independent Czechoslovakia after the first world war. During the conflict, he organized the Czechoslovak legions and lobbied French officials to support his country’s sovereignty. He died in a plane crash while returning home in nineteen nineteen. The monument honors his dual legacy as a soldier and a diplomat serving both nations.