Karel Hynek Mácha

Karel Hynek Mácha was a Czech romantic poet. Mácha grew up in Prague, the son of a foreman at a mill. He learned Latin and German in school. He went on to study law at Prague University; during that time he also became involved in theatre (as an actor he first appeared in Jan Nepomuk Stepánek's play Czech and German in July 1832 in Benesov), where he met Eleonora Somková, with whom he had a son out of wedlock. He was fond of travel, enjoying trips into the mountains, and was an avid walker. Eventually he moved to Litomerice, a quiet town some 60 km from Prague, to prepare for law school exams and to write poetry. Three days before he was to be married to Somková, just a few weeks after he had begun working as a legal assistant, Mácha overexerted himself while helping to extinguish a fire and soon thereafter died of pneumonia. The day after his death had been scheduled as his wedding day in Prague.