Emil Kolben

Kolben was born into the German-speaking Jewish family of a small shopkeeper in the village of Strančice, southeast from Prague.

In 1887 he traveled to Zürich, Paris and London and in April 1888 he sailed with his wife Malvinus to the United States, where he stayed for five years.

In 1889 he visited the laboratory of Nikola Tesla to learn about the poly-phase alternating current motors and power system the inventor was developing there.

[2] In 1892 Kolben returned to Europe and for two years worked as the chief-designer in Switzerland for company Oerlikon which manufactured poly-phase alternating current generators.

Used technologies and equipment were much above standards of the time – for example instead of using a centralized power source and mechanical transmitters the machines were fitted with electrical engines.

Immediately after the occupation of Czechoslovakia by Nazi-Germany (1939) Kolben was recalled from his position as the director (March 16) and later imprisoned in the concentration camp Theresienstadt.

Mismanagement during the new free-market era (1990s) and technological delay accumulated during previous decades resulted in bankruptcy in 1998 and a massive reduction in production.