Edvard Beneš was the second Czechoslovak president from 1935-1948. He was born in Kožlany in northern Plzeň as the youngest son of farmer Matěj Beneš and his wife Anna Petronila Benešová from Kožlan. In 1905, he completed his studies in philosophy and history at Charles University in Prague and then continued his studies at Sorbonne in Paris. In 1914, he became a professor at Charles University and in 1915 was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs in the first government of T.G. Masaryk. In 1918, Beneš was one of the founders of Czechoslovakia and became Minister of Foreign Affairs in the first government of the new state. In 1935, Beneš was elected as the second president of Czechoslovakia and held this position until 1948.