Antonín Jan Frič was born on June 30, 1832, in Prague, during the Austria-Hungary era (now the Czech Republic).
He was a paleontologist, zoologist, and geologist. He first studied law, but transferred to the Faculty of Medicine, graduating in 1860. For many years he worked in the natural history collections department of the National Museum in Prague, first as an unpaid assistant, later as a permanent clerk, custodian and from 1880 as its director. Under his leadership, the collections grew many times over as he managed to acquire a number of valuable private collections. Frič first became an associate professor, then a professor at Charles University in Prague and the dean of the Faculty of Arts, and in 1892, the rector of the university. He was a full and honorary member of numerous scientific institutions and societies at home and abroad and in 1902, he received the Lyell Medal from the Geological Society of London. His work “Fauna der Gaskohle und der Kalksteine der Permformation Böhmens” (3 v., 1879-1901) belonged not only in his time but also later to the basic scientific works on prehistoric life in Central Europe.
He died on November 15, 1913, in Prague, Czech Republic.