Edwin Otho Sachs

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

FRGS (5 April 1870 – 9 September 1919) was a British architect and engineer of

German descent , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

, who, by his interest in theatre and working as a stagehand and fireman, specialized in the prevention of theatre fires. Furthermore, he was the technical advisor to the London Royal Opera House from 1898 until his death in 1919. Today he is probably most known as co-author of the three-volume book set ''Modern Opera Houses and Theatres''.

Life

He was born in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

the son of G. Sachs, a German. He studied mechanical engineering at University College, London. He then went to Germany to study architecture, qualifying in 1892. During his time in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

he worked with the Berlin Royal Fire Brigade and developed a life-long interest in fire prevention. He did further work with both the Vienna fire service and Paris fire service. On his return to Britain he served as vice president of the National Fire Brigades Union and founded the British Fire Prevention Committee. In 1898 he installed electric lifts in the

Theatre Royal, Drury Lane The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) and backs onto Dr ...

. In 1900 and 1901 he famously oversaw the reconstruction of the

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Op ...

in London. In 1904 he was elected a fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

. His proposers were Thomas Ernest Gatehouse,

Boverton Redwood The Redwood Baronetcy, of Avenue Road in St Marylebone, is a title in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 24 July 1911 for Boverton Redwood. He was a leading expert on petroleum and an adviser to the Admiralty, India Office ...

, Sir William Thomson, Lord Kelvin and Andrew Gray. He died in

on 9 September 1919.

Publications

Edwin Sachs (co-)authored the following works: * ''Modern Opera Houses and Theatres'', published by B.T. Batsford, London UK, reissued by Benjamin Blom, New York in 1968. ** Volume I (1896), co-author: Ernest A. E. Woodrow. ** Volume II (1897). ** Volume III (1898). ** Supplement: ''Stage Construction: Examples of Modern Stages Selected from Playhouses Recently Erected in Europe With Descriptive and Critical Text'' (1898). * ''Fires and Public Entertainments: A Study of Some 1100 Notable Fires at Theatres, Music Halls, Circus Buildings and Temporary Structures During the Last 100 Years'', published by Charles and Edwin Layton, London UK (1897). Contributions to publications of the British Fire Prevention Committee: * ''The Paris Charity Bazaar Fire'', published by the British Fire Prevention Committee, London UK (1898). * ''Facts On Fire Prevention; the Results of Fire Tests Conducted by the British Fire Prevention Committee'', published by B.T. Batsford, London UK (1902). * ''A Record of the International Fire Exhibition, Earl's Court, London, 1903, Organised Under the Auspices of the British Fire Prevention Committee ... : Together With a Report On Some of the Exhibition Events'', published for London Exhibitions Ltd. by the British Fire Prevention Committee, London UK (1903?). * ''The Brussels Exhibition Fire: With Some Suggestions As to Safeguards at Future Temporary Exhibitions Set Out in the Form of Model Regulations'', published by the British Fire Prevention Committee, London UK (1911). Sachs also contributed to the 1911 edition of the ''

Encyclopædia Britannica The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various time ...

'', notably the section "Modern Stage Mechanism" in the article "Theatre". In this section, much information from his works ''Modern Opera Houses and Theatres'' was used. The section is signed with his initials (E. O. S.).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sachs, Edwin 1870 births 1919 deaths 19th-century German architects People from Marylebone Architects from London 20th-century German architects