Daniel Swarovski (24 October 1862 – 23 January 1956) was a Bohemian-born Austrian

glass cutter A glass cutter is a tool used to make a shallow score in one surface of a piece of glass (normally a flat one) that is to be broken in two pieces, for example to fit a window. The scoring makes a split in the surface of the glass which encourages ...

jeweler A bench jeweler is an artisan who uses a combination of skills to make and repair jewelry. Some of the more common skills that a bench jeweler might employ include antique restoration, silversmith, Goldsmith, stone setting, engraving, fabrica ...

, and founder of the Swarovski crystal dynasty.

Early life

Swarovski was born in Georgenthal, Bohemia,

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central-Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence ...

(now Jiřetín pod Bukovou, Czech Republic), the son of Franz Anton Swarovski and Helene Swarovski (''née'' Staffen). He was born in the

Jizera Mountains Jizera Mountains ( cz, Jizerské hory), or Izera Mountains ( pl, Góry Izerskie; german: Isergebirge), are part of the Western Sudetes on the border between the Czech Republic and Poland. The range got its name from the Jizera River, which rises a ...

, from the current border with Poland. Like many in the area, his father was a glass cutter, and Swarovski first learned the art of glass-cutting in his father's small factory. He was educated in Paris and Vienna, where he met electrical engineer

František Křižík František Křižík (; July 8, 1847 – January 22, 1941) was a Czech inventor, electrical engineer, and entrepreneur. Biography Křižík was born into a family in Plánice. In spite of his background, Křižík managed in 1866 to study engin ...

, and became interested in electricity at the 1883 Electricity Exhibition in Vienna.

Career

In 1892, Swarovski patented an electric cutting machine that facilitated the production of

lead crystal Lead glass, commonly called crystal, is a variety of glass in which lead replaces the calcium content of a typical potash glass. Lead glass contains typically 18–40% (by weight) lead(II) oxide (PbO), while modern lead crystal, historically als ...

glass jewelry, which until then had to be cut by hand. In 1895, he moved to Austria proper and partnered with Armand Kosman and Franz Weis to form "A. Kosmann, D. Swarovski & Co." They built a crystal-cutting factory in

Wattens Wattens is a market town of the Innsbruck-Land District in the Austrian state of Tyrol. It is chiefly known as home of the Swarovski crystal glass company. Geography Wattens is located in the Lower Inn Valley of North Tyrol, about east of Innsbr ...

Tyrol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...

, to take advantage of local hydroelectricity for the energy-intensive grinding processes Swarovski had patented. In 1919, Swarovski founded the

Tyrolit Tyrolit is an Austrian company that develops, manufactures and markets abrasive products as well as concrete sawing and drilling equipment. With 29 production locations on 5 continents, the TYROLIT group belongs to the world’s largest producers ...

company, bringing the grinding and polishing tools from his crystal business into a different market. In 1949, Swarovski Optik KG was founded by his son Wilhelm Swarovski in

Absam Absam is a municipality in the Innsbruck-Land District, Tyrol (Austria) situated at an altitude of 632 m, which had an area of 51.92 km2 and 6,776 inhabitants as January 2015. Geography Absam is 15 km from Innsbruck, in the lower ...

, Tyrol.

Personal life

In 1887, Swarovski married Marie Weis, the sister of his business partner Franz Weis, and they had three sons: Fritz, Alfred, and Wilhelm.

Honors

*Knight of the

Order of St. Gregory the Great The Pontifical Equestrian Order of St. Gregory the Great ( la, Ordo Sancti Gregorii Magni; it, Ordine di San Gregorio Magno) was established on 1 September 1831, by Pope Gregory XVI, seven months after his election as Pope. The order is one of ...

*Bearer of the Great Emblem of Merit from the Republic of Austria *Owner of the

Julius Raab Julius Raab (29 November 1891 – 8 January 1964) was a conservative Austrian politician, who served as Federal Chancellor of Austria from 1953 to 1961. Raab steered Allied-occupied Austria to independence, when he negotiated and signed the Austri ...

Medal *Honorary member of the Leopold-Franzens-University of Innsbruck

Notes

References

External links

Swarovski Group: History
1862 births 1956 deaths People from Jablonec nad Nisou District People from the Kingdom of Bohemia German Bohemian people Austrian Nazis Glass makers Austrian jewellers Austro-Hungarian businesspeople Austrian businesspeople Knights of St. Gregory the Great {{Austria-hist-stub