Eugen Wüster (10 October 1898 – 29 March 1977) was an

industrialist A business magnate, also known as an industrialist or tycoon, is a person who is a powerful entrepreneur and investor who controls, through personal enterprise ownership or a dominant shareholding position, a firm or industry whose goods or ser ...

and

terminologist Terminology is a group of specialized words and respective meanings in a particular field, and also the study of such terms and their use; the latter meaning is also known as terminology science. A ''term'' is a word, compound word, or multi-wor ...

, regarded as "the father of technological standardization".

Career

Wüster became enthusiastic about

Esperanto Esperanto (, ) is the world's most widely spoken Constructed language, constructed international auxiliary language. Created by L. L. Zamenhof in 1887 to be 'the International Language' (), it is intended to be a universal second language for ...

when he was 15, soon becoming an Esperanto translator and author, particularly about questions of Esperanto

terminology Terminology is a group of specialized words and respective meanings in a particular field, and also the study of such terms and their use; the latter meaning is also known as terminology science. A ''term'' is a word, Compound (linguistics), com ...

and

lexicography Lexicography is the study of lexicons and the art of compiling dictionaries. It is divided into two separate academic disciplines: * Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionaries. * Theoretical le ...

. He trained in

electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems that use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

and later took over his father's factory. From mid-1918 to 1920, as a student, he compiled the encyclopedic Esperanto-German dictionary. Wüster used the experience gained in compiling this dictionary to aid the writing of his

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

thesis. As a result of his work on international technical communication, the Technical Committee for Terminology Standardization of the

International Organization for Standardization The International Organization for Standardization (ISO ; ; ) is an independent, non-governmental, international standard development organization composed of representatives from the national standards organizations of member countries. M ...

(

ISO/TC 37 ISO/TC 37 is a technical committee within the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) that prepares Technical standard, standards and other documents concerning methodology and principles for terminology and language resources. IS ...

) was established in 1936. Wüster coined many of the international principles of terminology standardization and contributed to the foundations of the modern

information society An information society is a society or subculture where the usage, Content creation, creation, information distribution, distribution, manipulation and information integration, integration of information is a significant activity. Its main drive ...

. The influence of Wüster's ideas has been prominent especially in the medical field, where it has also given rise to a critical reaction.Barry Smith, Werner Ceusters and Rita Temmerman, �
Wüsteria
��, ''Medical Informatics Europe'' (MIE 2005), Geneva, Studies in Health Technology and Informatic, 116 (2005), 647–652. He taught at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

. The Eugen-Wüster Archives at the University of Vienna as well as at the Esperanto Museum and Department of Planned Languages of the Austrian National Library are based on material that he bequeathed. The Eugene Wüster Prize for outstanding achievements in the field of terminological research has been established under the sponsorship of the Vienna University and the City of Vienna.

Terminology

Wüster collaborated in the compilation and publishing of the first edition of the ''International Electrotechnical Vocabulary'', London 1938. He also worked on problems of

bibliography Bibliography (from and ), as a discipline, is traditionally the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects; in this sense, it is also known as bibliology (from ). English author and bibliographer John Carter describes ''bibliograph ...

, on reform of

German orthography German orthography is the orthography used in writing the German language, which is largely phonemic. However, it shows many instances of spellings that are historic or analogous to other spellings rather than phonemic. The pronunciation of al ...

, on the

Universal Decimal Classification The Universal Decimal Classification (UDC) is a bibliographic and library classification representing the systematic arrangement of all branches of human knowledge organized as a coherent system in which knowledge fields are related and inter-lin ...

system, on problems in informatics. Wüster also wrote a dictionary about mechanical tools, the latest version of which is available online. In 1971 Wüster initiated the founding of

Infoterm The International Information Centre for Terminology (Infoterm) was founded in 1971 by UNESCO. Its goal is "to support and co-ordinate international co-operation in the field of terminology."

,Infoterm
/ref> which he pro-actively supported until his death. He left many unpublished manuscripts on various subjects.

Publications (selection)

* ''Internationale Sprachnormung in der Technik, besonders in der Elektrotechnik'' (International Language standardization in technology, particularly in electrical engineering.'). (Die nationale Sprachnormung und ihre Verallgemeinerung) (The national language standardization and generalization). Berlin: VDJ 1931. 2nd edition. Bonn: Bouvier 1966 * ''Die Herstellung der Sägeblätter für Holz. Eine Betriebsführung für Sägewerker und andere Sägenfachleute'' (The production of saw blades for wood. An operational guide for saw mills and other cutting specialists). Springer, Wien 1952 * ''Bibliography of monolingual scientific and technical glossaries'', 2nd edition, Unesco, Paris 1955, 1959 * ''Einführung in die allgemeine Terminologielehre und terminologische Lexikographie'' (the general introduction to terminology and terminological lexicography lesson). 3rd Edition, Romanistischer Verlag, Bonn 1991, * ''International bibliography of standardized vocabularies. Bibliographie internationale de vocabulaires normalisés''. (International Bibliography of the standard dictionaries.) Initiated by Eugene Wüster. Prepared by Helmut Felber t al. 2nd ed / Wüster, Eugen / Saur, München 1979 * * * * * * * *

Translations

* ''Introduction to the General Theory of Terminology and Terminological Lexicography''. Springer, Wien 1979 * ''Introduction à la théorie générale de la terminologie et à la lexicographie terminologique''. Girsterm, Université Laval, Quebec 1979 * ''Introducción a la teoría general de la terminología y a la lexicografía terminológica.'' Institut Universitari de Lingüística Aplicada (IULA), Universität Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona 1998, (2nd edition 2003)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wuster, Eugen 1898 births 1977 deaths 20th-century Austrian scientists Linguists from Austria Austrian Esperantists Terminologists 20th-century linguists 20th-century lexicographers Interlingua speakers Interlingue speakers