What's in a Prague street name

Originally published on X on 26 November 2023.

František Martin Pelcl was born in Rychnov nad Kněžnou, in Hradec Králové Region, in 1734.

In 1755, he started studying theology in Prague, soon switching to law. After escaping to Vienna for a few months in 1757, he returned, but his father died and studying was no longer an option, as his siblings needed material support.

He became a tutor and aide to Count Šternberk, and then an educator, librarian and archivist for Count František Antonín Nostic (as in nearby Nosticova: https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/09/11/prague-1-day-73-nosticova/).

Pelcl’s time with noble Czech families gave him access to forbidden Protestant literature that he wouldn’t have seen otherwise, and he became a fervent Czech patriot. The Nostic family would also enable him to meet key figures of the Prague Enlightenment.

He published multiple works, most famously Brief History of the Czechs (1774-1782), as well as monographs on Charles IV and Wenceslas IV. In 1790, was the first to write about the history of the Germans in Bohemia (Geschichte der Deutschen und ihrer Sprache in Böhmen).

In 1793, he became the first Professor of Czech at Charles University. As the course was brand new, Pelcl was charged with creating usable/useful textbooks for learning Czech.

However, ill health meant that Pelcl wasn’t able to devote as much time to his academic career as he wished, and he died in 1801. He’s buried in the Malá Strana Cemetery.

Pelclova is all of 10-20 metres from Nosticova 4, where Pelcl lived when working for the Nostic family (1761-9).