What's in a Prague street name

Originally published on Twitter on 21 May 2022.

Jeseniova was built in 1875.

Jan Jesenius / Ján Jesenský (1566-1621) was a physician, politician and philosopher, born in Wrocław (then Breslau) to a father of Slovak origin.

He studied in Wittenberg, Leipzig and Padua, becoming professor of anatomy at the first of these in 1594.

In the same year, he *insert whatever the 1600 version of ‘went viral’ is here* by performing a public autopsy in Prague. This took place in the dormitory founded by Reček – also recently covered on https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2022/11/19/prague-3-day-24-reckova/.

In 1601, he moved to Prague, becoming professor to Rudolf II, and working in Louda’s dormitory (Loudova: https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2022/11/19/prague-3-day-27-loudova/). In 1617, he became rector of Charles University.

As one of the leaders of the Bohemian Revolt, Jesenius was arrested after the Battle of Bílá Hora. He suffered a particularly gruesome execution on 21 June 1621 on Old Town Square.

First, his tongue was cut out, and then he was beheaded. After the execution, his body was quartered and then woven into a wheel. His head was displayed on Old Town Square as a warning for ten years.

EuroCity train EC 280/281 (which goes from Prague to Budapest via Bratislava) is named after him, reflecting his Slovak and Hungarian roots.