What's in a Prague street name

Originally published on X on 30 April 2023.

The street was part of Na Rybníčku (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/09/01/prague-2-day-169-na-rybnicku/) at first, gaining its own status/name in 1886.

Vincenc Hálek was born as Vincenc Hálek in Dolínek, nowadays in Prague East, in 1835.

He entered a seminary in Prague, but moved to the Academic Gymnasium (on Štěpánská – https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/09/01/prague-2-day-167-stepanska/) against his parents’ wishes in 1847.

After graduating, he was put in charge of the theatre section of Národní listy, became editor of Máj, a literary almanac published between 1858 and 1862, and also wrote poems for that publication.

His most successful collection of poems was Večerní písně (Evening songs). His style was upbeat, optimistic and easy to read, which, in turn, earned him great popularity. Indeed, Večerní písně was devoted entirely to love in its purest, happiest form.

In 1874, Hálek caught a cold while on holiday in the Harrachov region. He would die of pleurisy in the autumn of the same year, aged just 39.