Emil von Škoda

Emil von Škoda (born Nov. 19, 1839, Plzeň, Bohemia—died Aug. 8, 1900, Amstetten, Austria) was a German engineer and industrialist who founded one of Europe’s greatest industrial complexes, known for its arms production in both World Wars.

After studying engineering in Germany, Škoda became chief engineer of a small machine factory in Plzeň (Pilsen), which three years later he bought and rapidly expanded, building his own railway connection to the main Vienna–Cheb line in 1886 and adding an arms factory in 1890 to produce a newly invented machine gun for the Austrian Army. In 1899 he incorporated his growing collection of machine shops, forges, and tool-and-die shops in Plzeň as the Škoda Works.