Hugo Gernsback
Hugo Gernsback was a pioneering figure in the realms of electrical engineering and science fiction, born on August 16, 1884, in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg. After emigrating to the United States in 1904, he became an inventor and entrepreneur, founding the Electro Importing Company, which is recognized as the world's first electronic supply house. Gernsback was instrumental in popularizing the genre of science fiction, coining the term "scientification," and later "science fiction." He published numerous magazines, including the influential *Electrical Experimenter*, which combined technical articles with imaginative fiction that captured public interest in future technologies. Although his own writing was often criticized for lacking depth, he fostered the careers of many prominent science fiction writers. Despite challenges in compensating his contributors, his publications became a vital platform for the genre. In recognition of his contributions, the World Science Fiction Society honors him with the "Hugo" awards, and he is celebrated as "The Father of Magazine Science Fiction." Gernsback passed away in 1967, leaving behind a legacy of innovation with eighty patents and a lasting impact on both electronics and literature.
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Hugo Gernsback
- Born: August 16, 1884
- Birthplace: Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
- Died: August 19, 1967
- Place of death: New York, New York
Biography
Hugo Gernsback was born in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg, on August 16, 1884, the son of a successful vintner. The handyman at his father’s winery was one of the first experimenters with the practical uses of electricity, and his wiring of useful devices, such as doorbells and alarms around the winery, caught young Gernsback’s imagination. Gernsback learned the basics of electrical wiring and soon wired an intercom and lighting system in the family home; by the time he was ten, he was doing the same in neighbors’ homes for a fee. He learned English at a boarding school in Brussels, and then matriculated to a technical college, the Technikum in Bingen, Germany. Emigrating to the United States in 1904, he shortened his last name from Gernsbacher to Gernsback.
His hope in America was to become an inventor. He had already invented a radio battery that would deliver more power than the American ones, and he hoped to develop his battery in the United States. He found plenty of backers for his projects, but he could not find the necessary electrical parts and had to write to a supplier in Paris. Seeing a need he could easily fill, Gernsback founded the Electro Importing Company, which proved to be the world’s first electronic supply house. Now an American entrepreneur, Gernsback married New Yorker Rose Harvey in 1906. Their only child, a daughter, was born in 1909. Gernsback would marry again in 1921 (Dorothy Kantrowitz), and a third time in 1951 (Mary Hancher). Gernsback flooded the U.S. Patent Office with descriptions and diagrams of his inventions and was granted his first patent in 1907.
Although he eventually received scores of patents, Gernsback’s most successful invention was the creation of the science fiction magazine. He even coined the term “science fiction,” thought at first he called it “scientification.” Gernsback published catalogues and trade journals for electrical and radio parts. To educate the public in electrical matters, Gernsback began editing and publishing another journal, the Electrical Experimenter, in 1909. The magazine’s goal was to catch the public’s imagination with the future possibilities of electrical devices and one of the best ways to do that was in a fictional setting. Soon there was as many “scientifiction” stories as technical articles in Gernsback’s many magazines.
Though Gernsback’s own stories were heavy on gadgets and light on plot and literary value, he encouraged other writers to contribute to his growing number of science fiction titles, and most of the major names in early science fiction made their careers in Gernsback publications. However, his pay rates were the lowest in the business, and the major authors left Gernsback as soon as they were established. When science fiction fans established the World Science Fiction Society and gave their first awards in 1953, they named the award the “Hugo” in Gernsback’s honor. In 1960, the society honored him as The Father of Magazine Science Fiction. When Gernsback died in 1967, he had eighty patents to his name and was as well known to historians of electronics as to science fiction enthusiasts.