Siegfried Popper

Siegfried Popper (January 5 1848 – April 19 1933) was the son of Joachim Popper, a fancy goods dealer (Galanteriewarenhandler) and Anna Schulhof in Prague. He attended the Nikolander Realschule (Technical School) before attending the Technical University in Prague for one year. He gained a degree in mechanical engineering after a three year study at Karlsruhe University. He spent some three years at various engineering works in Prague before joining the Austro-Hungarian Navy on 1 December 1869 as a draughtsman. He rose to the rank of Generalingenieur (Admiral), a rank especially created for him and which was conferred on 30 April 1904. He was responsible for the design of all the ships of the navy built until his retirement on 1 April 1907. He was granted an Honorary Doctorate by Vienna University in 1916 and returned it, about 1930, when the University introduced "Numera Clausa". Kaiser Wilhelm II offered him a chair in Naval Architecture at Charlottenburg, but Siegfried declined this offer. After retirement he devoted time to translating Hebrew literature into German. Because of his deafness he was run down by a tram in Prague and died several days later, on 19 April 1933.