Abstract
The aim of the exhibition organised by the the Office of the Government of the Czech Republic to celebrate the 240th anniversary of Count Straka's foundation and the 120th anniversary of the Straka Academy is to shed light on the history and fortunes of this important edifice. The Straka Academy was originally an educational institution for the indigent children of Czech noble families.
The seeds of the idea to help impoverished members of the Czech nobility were sown by Count Jan Petr Straka of Nedabylice in his will of 1710, in which he declared that, were the male line of the Strakas to die out, a foundation was to be established that could use its income to raise and educate poor Czech nobles. After circuitous negotiations with the Viennese authorities, the original plan came to fruition more than a hundred years down the line and the Straka Academy started to function as intended.
The chance to study at the Straka Academy was a matter of prestige and attracted a great deal of interest during the institution's heyday. One of its boarders, for example, was the famous First-Republic actor Theodor Pištěk.