Jakob Pöschl (25 February 1828 in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

– 6 January 1907 in

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 ...

) 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 ...

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...

and university teacher.

Biography

After graduating from Gymnasium Pöschl studied

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

for two years 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 ...

. From 1846 to 1851 he studied at the Vienna Polytechnic Institute. He obtained permission to teach in

Realschule Real school (, ) is a type of secondary school in Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It has also existed in Croatia (''realna gimnazija''), the Austrian Empire, the German Empire, Denmark and Norway (''realskole''), Sweden (''realskola''), F ...

n in

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

and physics. From 1851 onwards he worked as a teacher, first in Vienna and later in

Brno Brno ( , ; ) is a Statutory city (Czech Republic), city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava (river), Svitava and Svratka (river), Svratka rivers, Brno has about 403,000 inhabitants, making ...

. In 1855 Pöschl was appointed first professor for experimental and technical physics at the Joanneum in Graz. In 1871–72 he was rector of the university. Pöschl retired in 1887 and was succeeded by Albert von Ettingshausen. Pöschl passed away in his house located at Klosterwiesgasse 19 after a long period of suffering on 6 January 1907. He was buried at the Graz St. Peter cemetery. Jakob Pöschl married Magdalena, née Nömayer (born 1849, alternative spellings: Nömeyer or Nomayr) in 1870 in the Graz Parish Church. The Pöschls had five children, three of them being scientists and working at universities as well: Son Arnold (born 1880) was a professor of canon law and rector of the

University of Graz The University of Graz (, formerly: ''Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz'') is a public university, public research university located in Graz, Austria. It is the largest and oldest university in Styria, as well as the second-largest and second-old ...

Theodor Theodor is a masculine given name. It is a German form of Theodore. It is also a variant of Teodor. List of people with the given name Theodor * Theodor Adorno, (1903–1969), German philosopher * Theodor Aman, Romanian painter * Theodor Bluege ...

(born 1882) was a mathematician and engineer in

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( ; ; ; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, third-largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, after its capital Stuttgart a ...

, and Viktor (born 1884) was a chemist and rector of the Handelshochschule Mannheim. Historic sources state that son Fritz Pöschl studied medicine and daughter Maria married Dr. Karl Schadelbauer, a spa physician, on 16 April 1901. The German-Austrian classical philologist Viktor Pöschl was a grandson of Jakob Pöschl.

Work

Jakob Pöschl is most known for his role as a university teacher. His most prominent student in Graz was

Nikola Tesla Nikola Tesla (;"Tesla"
. ''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. ; 10 July 1856 – 7 ...

, whose 1919 autobiography ''My Inventions'' mentions Pöschl's demonstration of a Gramme electric generator as an inspiration in his development of an

Induction motor An induction motor or asynchronous motor is an AC motor, AC electric motor in which the electric current in the rotor (electric), rotor that produces torque is obtained by electromagnetic induction from the magnetic field of the stator winding ...

. Pöschl's role in Tesla's university education is documented by the local press as early as in 1892–1893 (whereas to current knowledge and in contrast to that early sources Tesla never finished his studies in Graz). Pöschl repeatedly donated scholarships and prizes which were – together with other grants – awarded during the annual celebration of the founding of the ''Joanneum'' on 26 November.

Notes

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Poschl, Jakob 1828 births 1907 deaths Scientists from Vienna Physicists from Austria-Hungary TU Wien alumni Academic staff of the Graz University of Technology