Josef von Zítek (4 April 1832 – 9 September 1909) was a Czech architect best known for two Neo-Renaissance landmarks in Prague, the National Theatre[1] and the Rudolfinum.

[2] Zítek's father died of cholera shortly before he was born, so his family was in dire financial need until 1839, when his mother found work as a laundry worker for the lawyer, Adolf Pinkas [cs].

After two years there, he began work at a studio jointly operated by Eduard van der Nüll and August Sicard von Sicardsburg, two of his former teachers at the Vienna Polytechnic.

[4] His other works from this period include a monument to the writer and politician Karel Havlíček Borovský, at Olšany Cemetery, and the Mill Colonnade in the spa city of Karlovy Vary.

[citation needed] As a result, he resigned from his position as the project's architect, married his longtime fiancée, Berta Lippert, and took an extended honeymoon abroad.