Details

Photographs

UK0108 SC MSS 257/05

1920s to 1970s

Gustav Wikkenhauser, somtimes referred to as one of the pioneers of television, died aged 73 in 1974. He was internationally known for his research into scientific instruments. In recognition of his contribution to science he had been awarded an MBE in 1946 and had been made a Freeman of the City of London in 1958. Gustav was born in Budapest in 1901 and educated at Budapest University. He worked in Berlin on the early stages of mechanical television and was invited to come to Britain to work on television in the UK where he started to work for the company Scophony Ltd. He became a naturalized British citizen in 1941 and was awarded the MBE for his scientific work at that time. After the war, in 1946 he married his second wife, Pamela. In 1947 Gustav became Chief Development Engineer for Kelvin Hughes (division of Smith Industries Ltd), of Barkingside, where he researched navigational instruments. He was a Fellow of The Television Society, a Member of the British Institution of Radio Engineers, a member of the Worshipful Company of Scientific Instrument Makers, and a Fellow of the Institute of Navigation. He retired in 1967 but continued to work as a consultant for Shell International Marine Ltd, for whom he researched the measurement of ship's motion.

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