Hugo Gernsback

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Hugo Gernsback is watching a television broadcast from his radio station WRNY on the cover of the November 1928 issue of Radio News

Hugo Gernsback , born as Hugo Gernsbacher (born August 16, 1884 in Luxembourg ; † August 19, 1967 in New York City ) was a Luxembourgish / American publisher and science fiction author.

Life

Gernsback (originally Gernsbacher) was born in the Bonneweg district of the Luxembourg capital, Luxembourg. He did his technical training at the Technical University of Bingen , at that time still a technical center for mechanical engineering and electrical engineering. In 1904 he immigrated to the USA . He married three times: Rose Harvey in 1906, Dorothy Kantrowitz in 1921, Mary Hancher in 1951.

In 1925 Gernsback founded the radio station WRNY and was involved in broadcasting the television programs. Gernsback published the magazine Amazing Stories in 1926 , thus establishing the modern genre of science fiction literature. Its most important illustrator was Frank R. Paul , who was born in Vienna . Gernsback also played a key role in establishing the science fiction fandom by publishing the addresses of readers' letters in his magazines.

The Science Fiction Achievement Prize, which is awarded every year based on a vote by members of the World Science Fiction Society , was named after Gernsback Hugo . In 1970 a moon crater was named after him. Gernsback was inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame in 1996 .

Gernsback also wrote science fiction himself, including the novel Ralph 124C 41+ , which he first published from April 1911 to March 1912 in his magazine Modern Electrics . The title of the novel is, spoken in English, "Ralph one two four c four one", which can also be understood as "Ralph, one to foresee for one". That means in German: "Ralph, one who looks into the future for us". His work is generally considered worth reading because of the diversity of his ideas, rather than its literary or narrative quality.

Hugo Gernsback was also an inventor and acquired 80 patents by the time he died. He invented one of the first electronic musical instruments to use oscillators, the staccatone .

Trivia

  • In the video game Mass Effect 2, the name of a crashed spaceship is Hugo Gernsback

bibliography

Novels
  • The Scientific Adventures of Baron Münchausen (1915, 2006)
  • Ralph 124C 41+: A Romance of the Year 2660 (1925)
  • Ultimate World (1971, posthumous)
Essay collections
  • Evolution of Modern Science Fiction (1952)
  • Hugo Gernsback: A Man Well Ahead of His Time (2007, edited by Larry Steckler)
  • The Perversity of Things: Hugo Gernsback on Media, Tinkering, and Scientifiction (2016)

literature

Biographies
  • Luc Henzig (Ed.): Hugo Gernsback, an amazing story: 1884 Luxembourg - 1967 New York. Center National de Literature 27 octobre 2010-18 mars 2011. Exhibition catalog. Center National de Littérature, Mersch 2010, ISBN 978-2-919903-21-4 .
  • Franz Pichler: Hugo Gernsback and his technical magazines: from “Science Facts” to “Science Fiction” and “Cold Facts”: On the life and work of an unusual Luxembourger in the USA. Trauner, Linz 2013, ISBN 3-99033-164-7 .
  • Gary Westfahl: Hugo Gernsback and the Century of Science Fiction. McFarland, Jefferson, North Carolina 2007.
items

Web links

Commons : Hugo Gernsback  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Father of science fiction. Inventor, entrepreneur, author: Karlsruhe is reminiscent of Hugo Gernsback. In: Jüdische Allgemeine from July 22, 2013.
  2. ↑ Hugo Gernsback in the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature of the IAU (WGPSN) / USGS
  3. ^ The Hugo Gernsback from Mass Effect 2 in the Mass Effect Wikia
personal data
SURNAME Gernsback, Hugo
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gernsbacher, Hugo (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Luxembourg-American publisher and science fiction writer
DATE OF BIRTH August 16, 1884
PLACE OF BIRTH Luxembourg
DATE OF DEATH 19th August 1967
Place of death New York City