Herman Potočnik
| Herman Potočnik | |
|---|---|
| Born |
22 December 1892 Pula, Austria-Hungary |
| Died | 27 August 1929 (aged 36) Vienna, Austria |
Herman Potočnik (pseudonym Hermann Noordung; 22 December 1892 – 27 August 1929) was a Slovene rocket engineer and pioneer of cosmonautics (astronautics). He is chiefly remembered for his work addressing the long-term human habitation of space.
Potočnik was born in the Austria-Hungarian port of Pula in southern Istria (now in Croatia). His family was of Slovene ethnicity and originated from Lower Styria in Austria-Hungary (now Slovenia).
Both of Potočnik's parents were Slovene. His father Jožef was born in 1841 in Zgornji Razbor near Slovenj Gradec and at the time of Herman's birth he served as a doctor and high navy officer in the Austro-Hungarian Navy harbour of Pula. His mother Minka was born February 7, 1854; she was a descendant of Czech immigrants, manufacturers of crucibles for glass-making, and a daughter of a well known wine merchant and local councillor Jožef Kokošinek from Maribor (born in Vitanje). In 1866, Herman's father Jožef participated in the second Battle of Vis, where the Austrian Navy under command of von Tegetthoff defeated the Royal Italian Navy. Jožef was later a general in the Austro-Hungarian Army.
When Herman's father died in 1894, his mother moved the family to Maribor. Herman had two brothers, Adolf and Gustav (who were both navy officers), and a sister Frančiška (Franci). He spent most of his childhood years in Maribor and, according to oral sources, in Vitanje.
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