Beneš (feminine Benešová) is a common Czech and Slovak surname. The surname was derived from the shortened Czech form of the given name Benedict (Latin name of meaning "blessed", see also the surname Benedict). In the old Czech orthography the word was written as Beness, the Germanized form is Benesch. Notable people with the surname include: Alan Benes (born 1972), American Major League Baseball pitcher Andy Benes (born 1967), American Major League Baseball pitcher Bedřich Beneš (born 1967), Czech-American computer scientist Božena Benešová (1873–1936), Czech poet and author Edvard Beneš (1884–1948), leader of the Czechoslovak independence movement and the second President of Czechoslovakia Emilie Benes Brzezinski (born 1932), American sculptor and widow of Zbigniew Brzezinski Hana Benešová, Czech athlete Ivan Beneš, Czech basketball player and coach Iveta Benešová (born 1983), Czech professional tennis player Jan Beneš (1936–2007), Czech writer, translator, publicist and screenwriter Jan Beneš (born 1987), Czech orienteering junior world champion Joan Benesh (1920–2014), British ballet dancer Josef Beneš (1902–1984), Czech linguist Juraj Beneš (1940–2004), Slovak opera and orchestral composer Ladislav Beneš (born 1943) Czech handball player Libuše Benešová, Czech politician Lubomír Beneš (1935–1995) Czech animator, director and author Luděk Beneš Czechoslovak slalom canoer (born 1960), Czech animator who worked in Pat and Mat, and Club of the Discarded (1989) Marie Benešová, Czech politician Marijan Beneš (born 1951), Yugoslav boxer Pavel Beneš chief designer at ČKD-Prague Petr Beneš, Czech volleyball player Rudolf Benesh (1916–1975), British mathematician, co-inventor of Benesh Movement Notation Svatopluk Beneš, (1918–2007), Czech actor Thomas A. Benes, (1951–2014) United States Marine Corps general Václav Beneš Třebízský (1849–1884) Czech novelist Vaclav E. Benes (born 1931), American mathematician, developer of the Benes network Vít Beneš, Czech association footballer Vojta Beneš (1878–1951), Czechoslovak educator and political leader, brother of Edvard Beneš Fictional characters: Alton Benes, Elaine Benes's father on Seinfeld Elaine Benes, Julia Louis-Dreyfus' character on Seinfeld Jan Benes, the comatose scientist in Fantastic Voyage portrayed by Jean Del Val Sandra Benes, a character on Space: 1999 See also Beneš-Mráz Beneš decrees, a series of laws enacted by the Czechoslovak government of exile during World War II in absence of Czechoslovak parliament Benes network, a type of switching network used in telecommunications Benesch (a Germanized form of the name) Czech-language surnames Slavic-language surnames