The future mathematician and teacher was born in the family of Vincenc Jarolimek, a teacher at the primary and secondary school in Pardubice, Old Town No. 52. He first went to school in his native Pardubice and then headed to the secondary school in Kutná Hora and later to Písek. From 1863 he studied mechanical engineering at the Prague Technical University. Despite his deep interest in mathematics, he first tried a career as a trainee at the Ringhoffer engineering plant in Prague's Smíchov district, but soon returned to theoretical work and began working as a teaching assistant for mathematics and geometry at the high school in Písek. Five years later, in 1873, he became a professor in Písek and worked there for the next 18 years, during which time, in addition to his teaching activities, he also devoted himself to mathematical education and the creation of popular textbooks, which began to be widely used in other high schools in the Czech territory of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. As a meritorious teacher and headmaster, he later worked at several schools. In 1905 he was appointed provincial school inspector for Bohemia and at the same time he habilitated and became an associate professor at the Technical University in Brno. In 1907 he also became a professor at the Prague Technical University and worked there until his retirement in 1915.
