Otto Krause (July 10, 1856February 14, 1920) was an Argentine engineer and educator.
Early life
Krause was born in the
Buenos Aires Province town of
Chivilcoy
Chivilcoy is a city in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, the head town of the Chivilcoy Partido. It has 64,185 inhabitants according to the .
Tourism
February Carnivals
In the month of February, a three-day carnival is held over an extended ...
to Leopoldina and Carl August Krause, both
German Argentine
German Argentines (german: Deutschargentinier, es, germano-argentinos) are Argentines of German ancestry as well as German citizens living in Argentina. They are descendants of Germans who immigrated to Argentina from Germany and elsewhere in E ...
immigrants arrived in 1851. Tending his farm with implements he brought from
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, Carl Krause instilled an interest in machinery to his five children, though the family eventually relocated to
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
in 1870. Otto subsequently finished his secondary school studies at the prestigious
Buenos Aires National College, a public
college preparatory school
A college-preparatory school (usually shortened to preparatory school or prep school) is a type of secondary school. The term refers to public, private independent or parochial schools primarily designed to prepare students for higher educatio ...
.
[Todo Argentina: Otto Krause ]
/ref>
Engineer and educator
He enrolled at the University of Buenos Aires
The University of Buenos Aires ( es, Universidad de Buenos Aires, UBA) is a public research university in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Established in 1821, it is the premier institution of higher learning in the country and one of the most prestigi ...
School of Exact Sciences in 1874, though he enlisted in the Argentine Navy as an engineer's assistant later that year. He returned to civilian life in 1878 and obtained a degree in civil engineering
Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewa ...
, earning a post in the Buenos Aires Teachers' School. Krause then began a career in the Argentine railways, working in the planning department of the Buenos Aires Western Railway
The Buenos Aires Western Railway (BAWR) (in Spanish: Ferrocarril Oeste de Buenos Aires), inaugurated in the city of Buenos Aires on 29 August 1857, was the first railway built in Argentina and the start of the extensive rail network which was ...
in 1879 and later contributing to the lines' extension into then-remote Tucumán and Salta Provinces.[
Returning to Buenos Aires in 1882, Krause held technical positions at the 11th of September Station, then the site of a large ]railyard
A rail yard, railway yard, railroad yard (US) or simply yard, is a series of tracks in a rail network for storing, sorting, or loading and unloading rail vehicles and locomotives. Yards have many tracks in parallel for keeping rolling stock or ...
. He continued to teach the discipline, and in 1887 was commissioned to select material in Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
for the new rail line and facilities to serve the recently founded city of La Plata. The experience earned him a post of technical director of the new mail train established by president Miguel Juárez Celman
-->
Miguel is a given name and surname, the Portuguese and Spanish form of the Hebrew name Michael. It may refer to:
Places
* Pedro Miguel, a parish in the municipality of Horta and the island of Faial in the Azores Islands
* São Miguel (disa ...
in 1888, and he became a tenured full professor at the University of Buenos Aires in 1891.[
Addressing the rapidly growing country's lack of formal technical schools, he established Argentina's first on March 15, 1897, and two years later, President ]Julio Roca
Alejo Julio Argentino Roca Paz (July 17, 1843 – October 19, 1914) was an army general and statesman who served as President of Argentina from 1880 to 1886 and from 1898 to 1904. Roca is the most important representative of the Generation ...
re-chartered the institution as the National Industrial School, entitling it to public funds.Escuela Técnica Otto Krause: Historia
/ref> Krause divided his time between the management of the school and diverse public posts, including that of President of the Municipal Tax Court and inspector of mines in the far-western San Juan Province. He continued to teach at his alma mater, as well, and in 1906 was named Dean of the School of Exact Sciences at the university. His efforts on behalf of technical schools included the 1909 inaugural of a new, important building for the National Industrial School in Buenos Aires' San Telmo
San Telmo ("Saint Pedro González Telmo") is the oldest ''barrio'' (neighborhood) of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is a well-preserved area of the Argentine metropolis and is characterized by its colonial buildings. Cafes, tango parlors and antiqu ...
area (just south of downtown), as well as the establishment of affiliates in La Plata, Rosario, Santa Fe and his hometown, Chivilcoy, among others.[
Krause helped plan ]irrigation
Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has been devel ...
works for the Río Negro valley in semi-arid Patagonia
Patagonia () refers to a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and g ...
before retiring in 1911. He returned in advisory capacity to the University of Buenos Aires in 1919, but died the following February at age 63; the National Industrial School was subsequently renamed the Otto Krause Technical School.
References
Notes
Bibliography
External links
Todo Argentina - Biografias - Ingeniero Otto Krause (1856-1920)
(accessed 2017-01-28)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Krause, Otto
1856 births
1920 deaths
Argentine people of German descent
People from Buenos Aires Province
University of Buenos Aires alumni
Argentine civil engineers
University of Buenos Aires faculty
Burials at La Recoleta Cemetery