Rudolf Sanzin (4 June 1874 – 2 June 1922) was an

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

n engineer and locomotive designer.

Life

Rudolf Sanzin was born in

Mürzzuschlag Mürzzuschlag () is a town in northeastern Styria, Austria, the capital of the former Mürzzuschlag District. It is located on the Mürz river near the Semmering Pass, the border with the state of Lower Austria, about southwest of Vienna. The ...

, in the province of

Styria Styria ( ; ; ; ) is an Austrian Federal states of Austria, state in the southeast of the country. With an area of approximately , Styria is Austria's second largest state, after Lower Austria. It is bordered to the south by Slovenia, and cloc ...

, Austria on 4 June 1874. His father was an official with the

Austrian Southern Railway The Austrian Southern Railway () is a long double track railway, which linked the capital Vienna with Trieste, the former main seaport of Austria-Hungary, by railway for the first time. It now forms the Southern Railway in Austria and the Spi ...

or ''Südbahn''. After completing his A levels (''

Matura or its translated terms (''mature'', ''matur'', , , , , ', ) is a Latin name for the secondary school exit exam or "maturity diploma" in various European countries, including Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech ...

'') he studied at the

Graz University of Technology Graz University of Technology (, short TU Graz) is a public research university located in Styria, Austria. It was founded in 1811 by Archduke John of Austria and is the oldest science and technology research and educational institute in Austria. ...

until 1900. The following year he was himself given a job with the ''Südbahn'', but did his doctorate in 1904 at Graz (with a dissertation entitled ''Investigations into the performance of a locomotive and confirmation of the optimum loading of the same''). His subsequent publications caught the attention of the railway ministry, with the result that

Karl Gölsdorf Karl Gölsdorf (8 June 1861 – 18 March 1916) was an Austrian engineer and locomotive designer. Early life Karl Gölsdorf was born on 8 June 1861 in Vienna, the son of Louis Adolf Gölsdorf. Even as a schoolboy he was introduced to locomotive ...

recruited him to the ministry, where he worked as a

design engineer A design engineer is an engineer focused on the engineering design process in any of the various engineering disciplines (including civil, mechanical, electrical, chemical, textiles, aerospace, nuclear, manufacturing, systems, and struct ...

. Later on, he became the head of the department for the design of

electric locomotive An electric locomotive is a locomotive powered by electricity from overhead lines, a third rail or on-board energy storage such as a Battery (electricity), battery or a supercapacitor. Locomotives with on-board fuelled prime mover (locomotive), ...

s in the then ''Electrification Office''. He obtained post-doctoral qualifications at

Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...

in 1906 and at the

Vienna University of Technology TU Wien () is a public research university in Vienna, Austria. The university's teaching and research are focused on engineering, computer science, and natural sciences. It currently has about 28,100 students (29% women), eight faculties, and ...

in 1909, where he was appointed as a reader in 1919. In addition to his career work, he was also an avid artist and produced numerous drawings and water colours. This activity led however to his death: whilst on holiday in

Trieste Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...

he died as a result of poisoning from one of his paints on 2 June 1922. He rests in a grave in Vienna's central cemetery, no. 16B-9-25. In 1942 the Sanzingasse street in Vienna's

Favoriten Favoriten (; ), the 10th district of Vienna, Austria (), is located south of the central districts. It is south of Innere Stadt, Wieden and Margareten. Favoriten is a heavily populated urban area with many residential buildings, but also la ...

district was named in his honour.

Sources

* HR Ing. Albrecht: ''Dr. Rudolf Sanzin †'', In: Zeitschrift des österreichischen Ingenieur- und Architektenverein, 1922, ISSN 0372-9605 {{DEFAULTSORT:Sanzin, Rudolf 1874 births 1922 deaths People from Mürzzuschlag Austrian railway pioneers Austrian railway mechanical engineers Graz University of Technology alumni Academic staff of TU Wien Deaths by poisoning Engineers from Austria-Hungary

Life

See also

Sources