Emil August Edward Wentzel (c. 1817 – 23 February 1892) was a timber merchant and politician in the colony of

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

. Emil emigrated to South Australia on the ''Hermann von Beckerath'' from Bremen, Germany, arriving in December 1847. He worked for a time as surveyor and engineer with the Central Road Board, but in 1852, after numerous complaints and several jobs which cost significantly more than budgeted for, he was dismissed from the service. He thereupon set himself up as a timber merchant on

East Terrace, Adelaide __NOTOC__ East Terrace marks the eastern edge of the Adelaide city centre. It is one of the main north–south thoroughfares through the east side of the city. Although the terrace essentially runs north–south between North Terrace and Sout ...

, and grew quite wealthy. Emil Wentzel was MHA for

Encounter Bay Encounter Bay is a bay in the Australian state of South Australia located on the state's south central coast about south of the state capital of Adelaide. It was named by Matthew Flinders after his encounter on 8 April 1802 with Nicolas Baudi ...

from April 1870 – December 1871. His term in parliament was remarkable for a deputation from his electorate calling for his resignation. He was not a candidate at the subsequent election. He returned to

Baden-Baden Baden-Baden () is a spa town in the state of Baden-Württemberg, south-western Germany, at the north-western border of the Black Forest mountain range on the small river Oos, ten kilometres (six miles) east of the Rhine, the border with Fra ...

, Germany, where he died. He was married but had no children, his wife surviving him. His will provided, after the death of his wife, for the establishment of two educational endowments: The Emil Wentzel endowment for students at the Royal Prussian Academy of Arts at Berlin and The Emil Wentzel endowment for students at the Royal Prussian High School for Technology at Berlin. Half the recipients were to be German and half South Australian, but only to go to students of some means, as he did not want to fund a charity.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wentzel, Emil German emigrants to Australia Australian timber merchants Members of the South Australian House of Assembly 1817 births 1892 deaths 19th-century Australian politicians 19th-century Australian businesspeople