What's in a Prague street name

Originally published on Twitter on 10 September 2022.

Slavíkova was built in 1910.

Until 1961, this was Grégrova, after Julius Grégr (1831-96), co-founder of the Young Czechs and of Národní listy.

Josef Slavík was born in Jince (near Příbram) in 1806. A prodigy on the violin, he was, by the age of nine, the lead in a quartet that played for Count Rudolf Jan Bruntálský z Vrbna.

The Count arranged for him to be taught at Prague Conservatory, where he also developed his composition skills. Upon graduation, Slavík became concertmaster at the Estates Theatre (Stavovské divadlo).

In 1825, he moved to Vienna to join the imperial band and develop his solo work, garnering the acclaim of Paganini, Chopin and Schubert, with the last of these composing two sonatas for him.

In 1833, Slavík went on tour. Despite having the flu, he travelled to Hungary for a concert, but, shortly after his arrival in Pest, the flu killed him. He was only 27.

Initially buried in Budapest, his remains were transferred to Vyšehrad exactly a century later.