Commemorative Plaque to Jan Kašpar in the Pardubice Real-school

The memorial plaque of Jan Kašpar, the first Czech aviator, is located on the ground floor of the former Pardubice high school where Jan Kašpar studied and graduated in 1901.

In the newly reconstructed building of the former Pardubice high school there is a memorial plaque of one of the famous students of this school, the aviator Jan Kašpar. He graduated here in 1901 and went to Prague to study mechanical engineering, which eventually led him to the construction of his own aircraft engine and in 1910 also to perform the first flight in an aeroplane on the Czech territory. Although he was reportedly a poor student and was even at one point in danger of repeating a year due to poor results, he eventually did graduate. His classmates at this time included, for example, his cousin Eugen Čihák, who later became his close collaborator in Kašpar`s aviation workshop. Besides Kašpar, the architect Josef Gočár and the writer Jiljí Vratislav Jahn also studied at the school. The plaque was created in the studio of artist Josef Procházka and was installed on the ground floor of the building in 2012.

SVITÁK, P. První český letec, inženýr Jan Kašpar, a začátky českého letectví: příběh našeho prvního letce, jeho předchůdců, spolupracovníků a současníků s přihlédnutím k vývoji letectví ve světě. Pardubice: Východočeské muzeum v Pardubicích, 2003

 

DITRYCH, B. První a sám: neobyčejný život a zbytečná smrt aviatika Jana Kašpara. V Praze: Knižní klub, 2001