Jiří Prošek was born on December 25, 1847 in Beroun – a city near Prague which lies at the Berounka River. His father – Jiří-František Prošek, was a famous shoemaker and his mother – Maria Bartakova, was good piano player. He studied engineering and construction at the Polytechnic Institute in Prague. In 1869, after four years of studying, he took all his exams and graduated with a Bachelor degree in engineering. During his studding in Prague, Prošek met a lot of Bulgarian young people who also were studding there. He became closer friend with them but especially with Ivan Drasov – one of the closest friends of the revolutionary poet Christo Botev. Later he became friend also with Petr Iv. Berkovski. He was Bulgarian revolutionary and taught Prošek to Bulgarian language. In 1869, after his graduation, Jiří Prošek arrived in Bulgaria. Prošek settled down in Almanii village (today Yabalkovo village) together with other Czech and Polish engineers. After he became closer with the leaders of the secret regional revolutionary committee together they set up “Slavic House” which was a school and a library. This was the official activity of “Slavic House”. Unofficially, under the guise of educational activities, Prošek set up the first international secret revolutionary committee. Prošek like the Bulgarian patriots also desired the liberation of Bulgarian people from the Ottomans. In 1876 Prošek began working as a correspondent in European newspapers. In this way he managed to inform other European countries about the events in Bulgaria. During the Russo-Turkish War Prošek was very active in helping Bulgarian people. Prošek and his friends dismantled around 200 m railway lines and the Ottoman army was late for around 30 hours. These actions had a significant influence on the outcome of the battle.

After the liberation Jiří Prošek settled down in Sofia. He was the first stenographer of The National Assembly. He was the founder and a member of “Slavyanska beseda – 1880″ and “Czech” organization. For some time he managed the journal “Czech falcon”. He was a co-founder of the hunting organization “Falcon” (Bulgarian: “Соколъ”) and the Bulgarian Engineering and Architectural Organization.

Together with his brother Bohdan (born in 1858, Beroun, Czech Republic), they built the most modern brewery at the time. This was the first building in Bulgaria with electricity and own generator. They also built the first printing house in Sofia where newspapers and state gazette, forms for the palace, ministries and all government agencies were printed. Prošek brothers and their cousin, architect Václav Prošek are authors of the great pieces of art – Lions’ Bridge and Eagles’ Bridge.

Both brothers died in 1905 and are buried at the Sofia Central Catholic Cemetery.

Because of the great Prošek’s love and dedication to Bulgaria, in 2011 Prošek brothers were awarded posthumously by the National library “Slavyanska beseda 1880” for “their great contributions to the cultural and spiritual development of our country after the liberation of Bulgaria”.