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For a better future, study the past.
The Great Floridians 2000 program recognizes individuals who distinguished themselves through their philanthropy, public service, or personal or professional service, and who have enhanced the lives of Florida’s citizens. The Great Floridians 2000 program honors Albin Polasek.
Members of the public nominated individuals by submitting a Great Floridians 2000 application to the state. The Great Floridians 2000 Committee, a group of seven distinguished historians from throughout Florida, was responsible for periodically reviewing and approving applications.
The program began in 1998 and was completed in 2000.
The distinctive blue plaques honor the men and women in the program. Plaques are attached to buildings or structures in the cities where the designee left their mark. The plaques do not contain biographical information. Many plaques have been removed and are no longer on display.
The official biographies published as part of the Great Floridians 2000 program are shown below. The information published by the state may or may not be accurate.
Albin Polasek was born in 879 in Frenstat, Moravia (now part of the Czech Republic) and arrived in America in 1901. He attended the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and the American Academy in Rome, and was recognized with awards, prizes and scholarships. In 1916 he became the first head of the Department of Sculpture at the Art Institute of Chicago. Polasek visited friends in Winter Park and decided to purchase property. He became associated with the community’s social, educational and cultural life. Some of his best-known Winter Park sculptures include “Victory of Moral Law,” “Ascended Christ,” “Man Reaching for the Moon,” “The Nativity,” and “Emily.” More than 400 of his works are displayed in American and European collections with the largest single collection in Winter Park.
Albin Polasek died in 1965. His Great Floridian plaque is located at the Albin Polasek Museum and Sculpture Garden (Albin Polasek House), 633 Osceola Avenue, Winter Park.
Polasek is buried at Palm Cemetery in Winter Park, FL. An online memorial may be found HERE.
Born on February 14, 1879 in Frenstat, Moravia, now part of the Czech Republic. After serving as an apprentice woodcarver, at age 22 he immigrated to the U.S., following his two brothers, both priests, to Minnesota. Served nearly 30 years as head of the sculpture department for the Art Institute of Chicago before retiring to Winter Park, Florida in 1949. In 1961, Polasek married Emily Muska Kubat. The couple set up the Albin Polasek Foundation and transformed the Polasek’s home into the Albin Polasek Museum and Sculpture Gardens, which remains one of Florida’s most popular cultural attractions. He died on May 19, 1965. Posthumously inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame in 2004.
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