Polyxena of Pernstein and Lobkowitz

Source: Czech Centres / FDULS

A noblewoman, first the wife of the High Burgrave Wilhelm von Rosenberg, and then Imperial High Chancellor Zdeněk Vojtěch Popel of Lobkowitz.

Source: Czech Centres / FDULS

A noblewoman, first the wife of the High Burgrave Wilhelm von Rosenberg, and then Imperial High Chancellor Zdeněk Vojtěch Popel of Lobkowitz. In 1618, she rescued royal governors Slavata and Martinic, who were thrown out from the windows of Prague Castle during the second defenestration. Ten years later she donated the famous Infant Jesus of Prague to the monastery of barefoot Carmelites at the Church of Our Lady Victorious, a statue that thousands of tourists come to Prague to see today.

The illustrated project Czech Heroines was inspired by the centenary of voting rights for Czech women and the 200th anniversary of the birth of the prominent Czech writer Božena Němcová. It is a joint project by the Czech Centres, the Faculty of Design and Art at the University of West Bohemia and Radio Prague International.