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to use them, which was heavily visited by women. In 1865 he funded the founding of the "Americký klub dám" (American Ladies’ Club or
American Club of Bohemian Women), which held its first meetings on the premises of his mother's inn "U Halánků". The club offered lectures on questions of women's emancipation, astronomy, medicine, biology, philosophy, literature, history and many other topics. The free lectures were given to women on Sunday mornings; men were allowed to listen to them from the lobby. During the twenty years of this lecture series almost 27,000 listeners were registered. The members of the American Ladies’ Club could also use Náprstek's library of Czech books, as well as books written in English and other foreign languages. This patronage, as well as his public advocacy of
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of Asian, African, and
American cultures in Prague. He became an alderman of the town of Prague (1873–1894) and a town councillor (1881–1892). Náprstek was an advocate of progressive ideas, including general living conditions in Prague, as well as the provision of education and health care facilities
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Vojtěch Náprstek was born
Adalbert Fingerhut. His father Anton Fingerhut had the German name as the only one of seven siblings – the others were called by the Czech version of the name Náprstek. (The German word fingerhut and the Czech word naprstek can be translated as thimble in English.) Adalbert
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When he returned to Prague after ten years abroad, his speeches and presentations about activities established by
American women attracted a great deal of attention. Around 1864 he organised an exhibition of American sewing machines (until then unknown in Prague) together with demonstrations on how
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around 1857, and resumed political activities. After his return, he labored to familiarize his fellow Czechs with
American concepts, institutions, and techniques, as well as with the Native American peoples with whom he had worked. He helped fellow Czech patriot
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The
Library of Congress >> Researchers >> European Reading Room >> Special Projects >> "The Czechs in America: Chronology: 1848–57"
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and the introduction of modern technologies in public life (gas lighting and cooking, the telephone, etc.). He also co-founded, in 1888, the
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officially changed his name to Vojtěch Náprstek in 1880 but he had been using the Czech name far earlier. His mother,
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Josef Veselý: V domě U Halánků, Toulky českou minulostí, programme for the Czech radio
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to organize and publish their own Czech newspapers. He became an
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learn
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was in the German language, it was read largely by Czechs. Naprstek encouraged
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he founded small masonic illegal groups for propagation of masonic ideals.
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philanthropist, patriot and politician, as well as a pioneering
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Náprstek (standing) with his mother Anna and brother
Ferdinand
261:"Под знаком циркуля. Сто лет чехословацкого масонства"
289:(New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1882); pp. 452–53.
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