Hans Dominik
Hans Dominik was a German engineer and author, born in 1872 in Zwickau, Germany. He spent his formative years in Berlin and later attended high school in Gotha before pursuing studies in mathematics, physics, and mechanical engineering, with a focus on railway technology. Dominik's career took him to the United States in 1895, where he worked as an engineer and drew inspiration for his writing, particularly for the John Workman series. Upon returning to Germany, he became involved in the burgeoning electrical industry, holding managerial positions in companies that supplied electricity to industrial sectors.
His military service in Cameroon during the German colonial period was marked by an eye injury, which led him to write about electrifying mines, earning recognition at the 1900 World Exhibition in Paris. Although he was unable to serve in World War I due to a spinal injury, he contributed to advancements in telegraph technology. Dominik's literary career flourished in the 1920s as he published utopian technical novels and works on industry, influencing the technical novel genre in Germany. He continued writing until his death in 1945, and his works remained popular in Western Germany for several decades.
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Hans Dominik
Writer
- Born: November 15, 1872
- Birthplace: Zwickau, Germany
- Died: December 9, 1945
- Place of death: Berlin, Germany
Biography
The son of a journalist, Hans Dominik was born in Zwickau, Germany, in 1872. He spent much of his youth in Berlin and went to Gotha for high school, going on to study mathematics and physics. At technical university, Dominik studied mechanical engineering with a particular emphasis on railway technology. In 1895, he made his first trip to the United States and made a living there as an engineer, providing him with material and the basis for his John Workman series. Upon his return to Germany, Dominik was flooded with offers from the emerging electrical industry and he worked as a manager for companies that supplied electricity to industrial corporations.
When he sustained an eye injury in the line of duty, he wrote a book about electrifying mines, which was submitted to the World Exhibition in Paris in 1900. Because of a spinal injury he was not sent to fight in World War I and instead worked to further the telegraph. Dominik wrote several other mechanical books and a few novels. His writing became a larger part of his life in the 1920’s, when he started publishing utopian technical novels and a series of books on industry. While his work cannot truly be characterized as science fiction, he often wrote of the future and technological advances and served as a pioneer in the evolution of the technical novel in Germany. Dominik wrote until his death in 1945, and his books were widely published in western Germany for a solid thirty-year period.