SEVERAL hundred people flocked to the General Milan Rastislav Štefánik memorial in Bradlo in western Slovakia on May 6 to commemorate the 87th anniversary of the general's tragic death in an airplane accident.
Štefánik was an astronomer, politician and diplomat who was well known for his work in astrophysics and solar physics. He played a great role after World War I in creating the first independent Czechoslovak state and was named its War Minister. A French citizen from 1912-1918, he also served with distinction as a general in the French Army.
Štefánik was returning to the republic from Italy in 1919 when his plane crashed shortly before landing in Bratislava.
