Emil Kolben became an honorary citizen of Prague 10 in memoriam
Miroslav Jiřík, chairman of the association Kolbenova vila, behind him is the likeness of Emil Kolben. Photo: P10
Inventor, industrialist, entrepreneur and visionary Emil Kolben is a new honorary citizen of Prague 10. The award was received from the hands of the mayor of Desítka, Martin Valovič, in memoriam by representatives of the registered association Kolbenova vila. During Tuesday’s ceremony in the Vršovice castle, a toast was also heard from the wife of Kolben’s grandson, Andrea Kolbenová from Munich. Jan Hamrník, the spokesperson of the tenth city district, informed about it.
Emil Kolben lived in the territory of Prague 10, in a villa in Hradešínská Street. He was one of the most important electrical engineers and entrepreneurs in Central Europe, he was the founder of the factory Kolben a spol., the general director and the main shareholder of Českomoravská – Kolben – Daněk (ČKD).
He spent five years in the USA, where he became, among other things, a collaborator of Thomas Alva Edison. Under Kolben’s leadership, in 1891 an experiment was carried out with the transmission of three-phase current over the greatest distance at that time.
“I greatly appreciate your efforts and determination to return our grandfather to the ranks of important figures in our and world history, alongside Edison, Tesla, Křižík, Bata and others,” said Andreé Kolbenová.
“Mr. Emile Kolben, we welcome you to the gallery of honorary citizens of Prague 10. You will share it with such personalities as Karel Čapek, Jan Kotěra, Jiří Kolář and others. I believe that you will become an ornament of this gallery and remind us all how important it is to be consistent and honest in your affairs,” said Valovič.
“Emil Kolben was the engine of a spectacular business that influenced the entire economic development in the Czech lands for decades. Almost everyone here knows the ČKD brand or the expression ‘I’m going to the kolbenka’. Nevertheless, we know almost nothing about Kolben himself. His name was not remembered, his meaning was forgotten. He resented fascism as a Jew, communism as a businessman,” Miroslav Jiřík, chairman of the Kolbenova vila association, recalled that Emil Kolben was deported with his family to the Terezín concentration camp, where he died in 1943 at the age of eighty.
The registered association Kolben’s villa is actively dedicated to commemorating Kolben’s legacy and is in contact with his survivors, who have also commissioned him to take over honorary citizenship. In the villa in Hradešínská street, the association is organizing an experiential exhibition this year on the occasion of the 160th anniversary of the birth of the technical genius, and in the future it wants to make it permanently available to the public – as an educational and innovation center.
“Emil Kolben’s story is unique. Who can claim to have worked closely with both Edison and Tesla? So when someone talks about Emil Kolben as the Czech Elon Musk, such an analogy is completely appropriate. Therefore, I see the award of honorary citizenship as a great opportunity to raise the general public’s awareness of the personality, which is a comparison with the most important inventors in the world,” said Pavel Šutka (ODS), deputy mayor of the Prague 10 Municipal Council for culture.