Page:The Czechoslovak Review, vol3, 1919.djvu/304

 outbreak of the war made the postponement necessary till the present happier days, when Prague and Bohemia are free again.

Professor Šimek was married in June 23, 1886,, to Miss Anna E. Konvalinka. They have five children: Ella, high school teacher; Bertha, married to Dr. P. J. Hanzlik, of Cleveland; Anna, married to M. O. Hanzlik of Cedar Rapids, Ia.; Vlasta, married to Dr. George Křepelka of Staceyville, Ia., and Frank who has recently returned from service in the Navy to his studies at the University. In addition to Šimek’s son all his sons-in-law were in the service of the United States during the war.

Much of Šimek’s wonderful energy was devoted to the welfare of his kinsmen by blood—Americans of Czechoslovak descent. A sturdy American himself, he does not believe that Americanization consists in throwing away old traditions and spiritual inheritance of the old European stock; on the contrary, he wants such values saved and added to the intellectual stock of American wealth. Above all he desires to give a broad education to the younger generation of his people which had been denied to their parents. He helped to organize and is now the president of the “Council of Higher Education” (Matice Vyššího Vzdělání), a foundation which made it possible for scores of the young Bohemian-Americans to attend college.

When war broke out and the dawn of Czechoslovak independence could be seen on the reddened skies of Europe, Professor Šimek was among the leaders of the movement in America from the beginning. He was chairman of the Iowa District of the Bohemian National Alliance, and when later all the Czech and Slovak organizations, working for the independence of their old home, combined into one central body, Šimek was unanimously made president of the new American Czechoslovak Board. At the same time he took a prominent part in the various war activities of the American government, making addresses in hundreds of towns in the Central Western States.

Professor B. Šimek is a great scholar, great teacher, great citizen. His people love and respect him, and they are pleased to see that his value is appreciated both here and abroad.

“A visit to the Czechoslovak Assembly is sure to be a revelation to one familiar with American legislative methods. The Czech parliamentarians do not affect that leisurely boredom which has become the habit of American congressmen. In fact they take an almost shameless interest in their work. They sit up very straight, look searchingly at whoever happens to occupy the floor, and interupt him with frequent cries of approval or dissent. After the session they gather in the corridors of the building, eagerly discussing the current bills. The amount of business which they have plowed through since their initial meeting, three months ago, is astonishing. A printed book six inches in thickness, filled with laws that touch upon every phase of social and political re-organization, stands as a monument to their industry.”