Czech immigration to Mexico

Czech Mexicans
checo-mexicanos

Sasha Sökol Sylvia Schmelkes Miroslava Šternová
Total population
417 Czech Republic-born residents (2012) Unknown number of Mexicans of Czech descent
Regions with significant populations
Mexico City • Puebla • Toluca • Reynosa • Monterrey
Languages
Spanish · Czech
Religion
Roman Catholicism

Czech Mexicans (Spanish: checo-mexicanos) are citizens of Mexico who are of Czech descent. Czechs originate from the Czech lands, a term which refers to the majority of the traditional lands of the Bohemian Crown, namely Bohemia, Moravia and Czech Silesia. These lands of have been governed by a variety of states, including the Kingdom of Bohemia, a crown land of the Austrian Empire, the Czechoslovak Republic, and, now, the Czech Republic.

History

The Czech community in Mexico has writers, businessmen, academics, actors and actresses as members. The Mexican cities with the highest percentage of people of Czech descent are Mexico City, Puebla, Toluca, Reynosa, Monterrey, Querétaro and San Luis Potosí

The Czech community in Mexico has been a discrete community, most of them arrived to the country as refugees escaping from World Wars. The Czech community of Mexico City frequently meets for celebrations at the statue of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk located on Avenida Presidente Masaryk.

Cultural organizations

• Asociación Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk

Notable individuals

• Angélica Espinoza Stransky, actress
• Juan de Esteyneffer, Jesuit missionary
• Wenceslaus Linck, Jesuit missionary
• Rubén Marshall Tikalova, editorial director
• Miroslava, actress of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema
• Sylvia Schmelkes, sociologist
• Zaneta Seirelova, actress and model
• Sasha Sokol, actress and singer

See also

• Czech Republic–Mexico relations
• Norteño (music), influenced by Central European immigrants

Further reading

• "Czech Missionaries in New Spain", Otakar Odložilík, The Hispanic American Historical Review, Vol. 25, No. 4 (Nov., 1945), pp. 428-454