Antonin Leopold Dvorák was born on September 8, 1841, in a tiny town north of Prague, the eldest of 14 children.¹⁾

His father was a butcher, an innkeeper, and a professional zither musician. Every family gathering was accompanied by folk music, and young Antonin quickly joined his father in the neighborhood band – also worked as an apprentice butcher.²⁾

The name Dvorák is pronounced 'Devor-jacques.'³⁾

Dvoák studied organ, violin and piano.⁴⁾

He was a member of the Bohemian Provisional Theatre Orchestra, which performed in restaurants and at balls. In 1871, he withdrew from the orchestra to focus on writing, earning a living by teaching piano.⁵⁾

After wooing and being rejected by her sister, Josefina, Dvorák married Anna Čermáková in 1873.⁶⁾

Dvorák and his wife had nine children in all, six of them survived childhood. After his marriage, he left the orchestra to become a church organist, which provided him with a higher pay, a higher social rank, and more time to write.⁷⁾