Key figures behind the establishment of the National Bank of Czechoslovakia

The first independent central bank could not have been created without the efforts of numerous individuals who contributed to drafting legislation, engaging in international and domestic negotiations and subsequently managing the newly established bank. The key figures behind the establishment of the National Bank of Czechoslovakia included Alois Rašín, Vilém Pospíšil, Karel Engliš and Augustin Novák.

Augustin Novák

Augustin Novák

(20 September 1872 – 9 May 1951)

Czechoslovak economist, minister of finance 1921–1922 and Chief Executive Director of the Banking Office of the Ministry of Finance and the National Bank of Czechoslovakia 1919–1934

After gaining his first professional experience at Böhmische Union-Bank, Augustin Novák joined Zemská banka království českého, the most important issuing institution in Austria-Hungary, in 1898. He worked his way up to the position of director of its commercial department. After the 1918 coup, he helped prepare the separation of the Czechoslovak currency. At Alois Rašín’s instigation, he became a senior official at the Banking Office of the Ministry of Finance and later at the National Bank of Czechoslovakia. In 1921–1922, he also briefly served as minister of finance in a caretaker government, where he defended the deflationary policy advocated by Alois Rašín. After the devaluation of the Czechoslovak koruna in 1934, he left the National Bank of Czechoslovakia and joined the management board and executive committee of Živnostenská Banka, the country’s leading commercial bank, which he also represented in its affiliates.