Antonín Novotný ( * 22 August 1827 in Dobromilice – † 9 March 1871) was a Czech chess composer and lawyer in Brno. The Novotny theme is named after him – the first appearance of the theme was in a Novotny three-mover (chess problem) from 1854.

"Antonin Novotný collaborated with the "Illustrierte Zeitung" and the "Wiener Schachzeitung" and was one of the most notable problemists of the 19th century.
He gave his name to the Novotny theme : a white unit is sacrificed on a square where two lines of action of two long-range black pieces meet and thus interferes both of them simultaneously." 

Death
Nowotny died of tuberculosis in 1871. In the Deutsche Schachzeitung in 1871, his age was incorrectly given as 41 years and in various sources an incorrect date of death was given as March 7, 1871. Jan Kalendovsky determined the actual dates from the birth register.                                                                                                                                                       Source: chesscomposers.blogspot.com