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Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk (sometimes called Thomas Masaryk in English) ( March 7, 1850 - September 14, 1937) was a Czechoslovak independence advocate who became the first President of Czechoslovakia.

Masaryk was born in Hodonín , Moravia, then part of the Austrian Empire, to a working-class family. As a youth he worked as a blacksmith. He studied in Brno, Leipzig, and Vienna. In 1882, he gained an appointment as Professor of Philosophy in the Czech part of the University of Prague. The following year he founded Athenaeum, a magazine devoted to Czech culture and science. He wrote many works on history, exposed as fraudulent supposed history taught before (which included several anti-semitic tracts used to underpin Czech nationalism) and opposed racial prejudice.

Masaryk served in the Austrian Parliament from 1891 to 1893 in the Young Czech Party and again from 1907Events January events January 6 Maria Montessori opens her first school and daycare center for working class children in Rome Casa dei Bambini in San Lorenzo). January 14 An earthquake in Kingston, Jamaica kills more than a 1,000 January 23 Charles Curtis to 1914Events January 4 77 seal hunters freeze to death on ice near Labrador January 5 Ford Motor Company announces an eight-hour workday and a minimum wage of $5 for a day's labor February 13 Copyright: In New York City the ASCAP (for American Society of Compos in the Realist Party, becoming an ever more vocal proponent of independence of the Slavic peoples from Austria-HungaryAustria-Hungary also known as the Dual monarchy (or: the k. monarchy , was a dualistic state ( 1867 1918) in which the Kingdom of Hungary enjoyed self-government and representation in joint affairs (principally foreign relations and defence) with the west. When the First World War broke out he had to flee the country to avoid arrest for treason, going to GenevaGeneva ( French: Geneve German: Genf Italian: Ginevra Spanish: Ginebra is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zurich), located where Lake Geneva (French: Lac de Geneve or Lac Leman empties into the Rhone River. It is the capital of the Can, to ItalyThe Italian Republic or Italy ( Italian: Italia is a country in the south of Europe, consisting mainly of a boot-shaped peninsula together with two large islands in the Mediterranean Sea: Sicily and Sardinia. To the north, where it borders France, Switzer, and then to LondonLondon is the capital of the United Kingdom and of England, and with over seven million inhabitants in the Greater London area, is the second-most populous conurbation in Europe (after Moscow). From being Londinium the capital of the Roman province of Bri, where he continued to agitate for Czech independence. In 1917Events January 2 The Royal Bank of Canada takes over Quebec Bank. January 22 World War I: President Woodrow Wilson calls for "peace without victory" in Europe. January 25 The Danish West Indies is sold to the United States for $25 million January 25 Anti- he went to Russia to help organize Slavic resistance to the Austrians. In 1918 he travelled to the United States, where he convinced President Woodrow Wilson of the rightness of his cause.

With the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918, the Allies recognized Masaryk as head of the Provisional Czech government, and in 1920 he was elected the first President of Czechoslovakia. He was re-elected twice. He held the office until 1935, when Edvard Beneš succeeded him.

Masaryk married Charlotte Garrigue, an American, from whom he took his middle name. His son, Jan Masaryk, served as Foreign Minister in the government-in-exile (1940 - 1945) and the governments of 1945 to 1948.

Avenida Presidente Masaryk, Mexico City's equivalent of Fifth Avenue in New York, takes its name from him.

Masaryk was nicknamed the President-Liberator and was widely known by his initials TGM.