Milan A. P. Harminc

Milan Anton Pavol Harminc, also anglicized as Milan Anthony Paul Harminc (31 May 1905 – 1974), was a Slovak architect. He had an active career in architecture in what is today Slovakia in the 1930s, and worked on a number of high-profile projects there. During the summer of 1939 he briefly served as a diplomat for the Slovak Republic to the United Kingdom, but as World War II broke out he revolted against the Jozef Tiso government and sided with the Allies. He was a member of the Czechoslovak Council of State in exile during the war. Harminc migrated to Canada after the war, where he continued to work as an architect.

Youth and interwar architectural career Slovak National Museum in BratislavaHarminc was born in Žilina on 31 May 1905, the son of renowned architect . In 1936 he established his own independent studio in Bratislava, located in House of the Slovak League on . After having arrived in London for his diplomatic posting, he was treated with suspicion by the British authorities. On 26 September 1939, Harminc communicated to the British Foreign Office that "he whole of Slovakia is occupied by Nazi armed forces. The voice of the Slovak people has been temporarily silenced by the ruthless abrogation of all treaties and agreements. In the name of Slovakia I solemnly protest against this shameful betrayal, and declare that the aim and ideals of Great Britain and France are identical with those of my sorely tried people."

Within the British authorities there had been some deliberations on expelling Harminc, but in the end he was allowed to remain in London as the Slovak consul considering that he had publicly sided with the Allies. The Czechoslovak Foreign Minister Jan Masaryk personally vouched for Harminc, which helped to sway the British authorities. He remainded a member of the Council of State as of April 1943. Harminc served in the British military between 1943 and 1945.

Migration to Canada Harminc never returned to Slovakia after the war. He died in Toronto in 1974.