Eliška Junková (16 November 1900 - 5 January 1994)

Eliška Junková, born in November 1900, became one of the most famous automobile racers in history and the first woman to win the Grand Prix. One of eight children, she was born in Olomouc, Moravia in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which eventually became part of the Czech Republic. At sixteen, Junková got a job at the Prague Credit Bank with the help of the multilingual skills that she developed while traveling. While working at the bank, she met banker Vincenc “Čenêk” Junek. Although he was several years older than her, they began a romance. After business took her traveling, which she had a deep love for, she returned to Paris to be with her partner. Upon her return, Čenêk developed enough wealth to start investing in his love for the automobile.

Soon enough, Junková was influenced by Čenêk’s automobile hobby, saying "If he is going to be the love of my life, then I better learn to love these damned engines.” She developed a love for cars, especially Bugattis, and in 1922 started taking driving lessons to receive her license. At first, Junková served as a riding mechanic to Čenêk during races until a hand injury prevented him from racing. She took this as her opportunity to take over the wheel and entered her first professional race in 1923, with her husband at her side. In 1924, she raced by herself in the Lochotín-Třemošná hill climb and won her class, making her an overnight celebrity.

By 1926, Junková was titled the Queen of the Steering Wheel. She was made an icon and known for her iconic racing outfit: a white blouse, blue skirt, helmet, and goggles. She was one of the first drivers to walk around the race course before the event, in order to note the landmarks and how to quickly get around the corners.

During the 1928 Großer Preis von Deutschland für Sportwagen, the Juneks shared the opportunity to drive the 18-lap race. On the fifth lap, Čenêk lost control of the car and flipped over after hitting a rock. Her husband was thrown from the car and suffered a terrible head injury that he died from shortly after. Junková was distraught and decided that she could no longer race. She sold all the cars that they owned together, and never competed in a race again.

Although her motorcar racing career was short, she pioneered her way to fame and her name was never forgotten in the motorsport community. Years following her husband’s death, she joined the Czechoslovak Automobile Club of Moravia and Silesia and helped to build a circuit, organize races and get the best European drivers to compete. She later passed away in Prague in January 1994 and is buried alongside her husband.

Written by: Savannah Rodriguez

Sources:

Seaman, Kirk. “Legends of Motorsport: Eliška Junková.” Hagerty Media, 8 Mar. 2021, https://www.hagerty.com/media/automotive-history/legends-of-motorsport-eliska-junkova/.

Kenety, Brian. “Eliška Junková: The Czech Racing Queen of the Jazz Age.” Radio Prague International, 7 Apr. 2021, https://english.radio.cz/eliska-junkova-czech-racing-queen-jazz-age-8560008.