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Rudolf Plank 1886–1973
Rudolf Plank 1886-1973
Rudolf Plank naquit il y a 100 ans, le 6 mars 1886. Les trks nombreux amis qu'il avait de par le monde, tout particuli~rement fi I'II F, aimeront & se souvenir de lui en cet anniversaire. Plank a btb un savant au sens ancien et complet du mot. Grand professeur et grand ingbnieur ; mais aussi, comme ces grandes f g u r e s de la Renaissance qui se sont impos~es jusqu'fi nous, il avait une culture vraiment universelle, litt~raire aussi bien que scientifique, et puis~e aux sources du monde entier. Uaccbs lui en btait facilitb par sa connaissance parfaite de quatre langues - allemand, russe, frangais, anglais - auxquelles s'ajoutaient trois ou quatre autres qu'il pouvait life sans difficultb. Ses amis connaissaient bien sa passion pour la po~sie et pour le th~ttre et savaient aussi qu'il avait traduit en allemand plusieurs auteurs classiques russes et frangais. Pour Plank, les fronti~res comptaient peu et son universalitb s'exprimait aussi par la longue liste des pays off il ~tait all~ apporter ses conseils scientifiques et techniques: entre les deux guerres mondiales, on le voit en Chine, au Japon, en Mandchourie, en Argentine, en Uruguay, au Br~sil, en Afrique du Sud. Rappelons en quelques mots sa brillante carribne. Nb fi Kiev, il y commence ses btudes universitaires et les poursuit ~t Dresde off il est profond~ment marqub par son maitre Richard Mollier, puis fi Dantzig off il est le disciple de Hans Lorenz. Aprbs un d~but de carribre d'ingbnieur chez Borsig, fi Berlin, en 1911, il occupe la chaire de l'Ecole Polytechnique de Dantzig. 1925 est une grande date dans la carribre de Plank: il crbe l'Institut de technique frigorifique de l'Ecole Polytechnique de Karlsruhe, qui acquiert rapidement une renommbe mondiale, et y ajoute un centre de recherches pour la conservation des aliments. Plank ajou~ un r~le ~minent fi l'IIF pendant 55 ans. D~s
198
Int. J. Refrig. 1986 Vol 9 July
Rudolf Plank was born 100 years ago on 6 March 1886. Very many of his friends all over the world, especially those in the IIR, will surely wish to commemorate the anniversary of his birth. Plank was a scientist, a distinction to be taken in its oldest and most absolute sense. Not only an eminent teacher and engineer, he also possessed, like the great figures of the Renaissance who have impressed all of us, a truly universal culture, both literary and scientific, which he harvested from sources all over the world. This was easy for him to accomplish because of his perfect knowledge of four different languages - English, French, German and Russian - to which can be added three or four other languages he was able to read quite easily. His friends were aware of his great passion for poetry and the theatre and also the fact that he translated into German the works of many classical Russian and French authors. Frontiers meant little to Plank and his universal character is manifest in the long list of countries he visited to give his scientific and technical advice. Between the two World Wars he was to be seen in China, Japan, Manchuria, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil and South Africa. To give a brief account of his brilliant career, Plank was born in Kiev where he commenced his university studies and pursued them in Dresden, where he was deeply impressed by his teacher, Richard Mollier. He later moved on to Danzig, where he became the assistant of Hans Lorenz. After starting his engineering career with Borsig in Berlin, in 1911, he occupied the Chair at the Polytechnic School of Danzig. 1925 was an important year in Plank's career; he established the Institute for Refrigeration Techniques at the Karlsruhe Polytechnic Schoot, which rapidly acquired an international reputation, and then added a research centre for food
Rudoff Plank 1914, il repr~sente le gouvernement allemand au conseil de cette Organisation (qui s'appelait alors Association Internationale du FroM) et il participe r~guli~rement aux Congr~s internationaux du froid. En 1955, il est ~iu vicepresident du Comit~ Ex~cutif de FIIF et en 1959 president de la Conference G~n~rale, poste qu 'il occupe jusqu'en 1967. II est alors non seulement le 'premier personnage' de l'IIF mais aussi, sans conteste, le frigoriste le plus connu du monde entier. II faut ajouter que Plank avait s~ former des disciples dont certains sont devenus aussi des 'savants' qui ont euxmbnes joub un r61e actif ~ l'llF. Rudolf Plank est mort le 16 juin 1973, a Karlsruhe, universellement admir~ et regrett~.
Roger Th~venot
preservation. Plank played an eminent r61e in the IIR for 55 years. As early as 1914 he represented the German Government on the Council of the Organization (then known as the International Association of Refrigeration) and he regularly participated in International Refrigeration Congresses. In 1955 he was elected Vice-president of the Executive Committee of the IIR and in 1959 he became President of the General Conference, a post he held until 1967. He was therefore not only the 'leading personality' of the IIR but also, unquestionably, the most renowned "refrigerationist in the world. It should also be added that Plank trained his own students, some of whom have also become 'scientists' and themselves play an active role in the work of the Institute. Rudolf Plank died on 16 June 1973 in Karlsruhe, a universally admired man who is missed by all of us.
Rev. Int. Froid 1986 Vol 9 Juillet
199
Rudolf Plank naquit il y a 100 ans, le 6 mars 1886. Les trks nombreux amis qu'il avait de par le monde, tout particuli~rement fi I'II F, aimeront & se souvenir de lui en cet anniversaire. Plank a btb un savant au sens ancien et complet du mot. Grand professeur et grand ingbnieur ; mais aussi, comme ces grandes f g u r e s de la Renaissance qui se sont impos~es jusqu'fi nous, il avait une culture vraiment universelle, litt~raire aussi bien que scientifique, et puis~e aux sources du monde entier. Uaccbs lui en btait facilitb par sa connaissance parfaite de quatre langues - allemand, russe, frangais, anglais - auxquelles s'ajoutaient trois ou quatre autres qu'il pouvait life sans difficultb. Ses amis connaissaient bien sa passion pour la po~sie et pour le th~ttre et savaient aussi qu'il avait traduit en allemand plusieurs auteurs classiques russes et frangais. Pour Plank, les fronti~res comptaient peu et son universalitb s'exprimait aussi par la longue liste des pays off il ~tait all~ apporter ses conseils scientifiques et techniques: entre les deux guerres mondiales, on le voit en Chine, au Japon, en Mandchourie, en Argentine, en Uruguay, au Br~sil, en Afrique du Sud. Rappelons en quelques mots sa brillante carribne. Nb fi Kiev, il y commence ses btudes universitaires et les poursuit ~t Dresde off il est profond~ment marqub par son maitre Richard Mollier, puis fi Dantzig off il est le disciple de Hans Lorenz. Aprbs un d~but de carribre d'ingbnieur chez Borsig, fi Berlin, en 1911, il occupe la chaire de l'Ecole Polytechnique de Dantzig. 1925 est une grande date dans la carribre de Plank: il crbe l'Institut de technique frigorifique de l'Ecole Polytechnique de Karlsruhe, qui acquiert rapidement une renommbe mondiale, et y ajoute un centre de recherches pour la conservation des aliments. Plank ajou~ un r~le ~minent fi l'IIF pendant 55 ans. D~s
198
Int. J. Refrig. 1986 Vol 9 July
Rudolf Plank was born 100 years ago on 6 March 1886. Very many of his friends all over the world, especially those in the IIR, will surely wish to commemorate the anniversary of his birth. Plank was a scientist, a distinction to be taken in its oldest and most absolute sense. Not only an eminent teacher and engineer, he also possessed, like the great figures of the Renaissance who have impressed all of us, a truly universal culture, both literary and scientific, which he harvested from sources all over the world. This was easy for him to accomplish because of his perfect knowledge of four different languages - English, French, German and Russian - to which can be added three or four other languages he was able to read quite easily. His friends were aware of his great passion for poetry and the theatre and also the fact that he translated into German the works of many classical Russian and French authors. Frontiers meant little to Plank and his universal character is manifest in the long list of countries he visited to give his scientific and technical advice. Between the two World Wars he was to be seen in China, Japan, Manchuria, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil and South Africa. To give a brief account of his brilliant career, Plank was born in Kiev where he commenced his university studies and pursued them in Dresden, where he was deeply impressed by his teacher, Richard Mollier. He later moved on to Danzig, where he became the assistant of Hans Lorenz. After starting his engineering career with Borsig in Berlin, in 1911, he occupied the Chair at the Polytechnic School of Danzig. 1925 was an important year in Plank's career; he established the Institute for Refrigeration Techniques at the Karlsruhe Polytechnic Schoot, which rapidly acquired an international reputation, and then added a research centre for food
Rudoff Plank 1914, il repr~sente le gouvernement allemand au conseil de cette Organisation (qui s'appelait alors Association Internationale du FroM) et il participe r~guli~rement aux Congr~s internationaux du froid. En 1955, il est ~iu vicepresident du Comit~ Ex~cutif de FIIF et en 1959 president de la Conference G~n~rale, poste qu 'il occupe jusqu'en 1967. II est alors non seulement le 'premier personnage' de l'IIF mais aussi, sans conteste, le frigoriste le plus connu du monde entier. II faut ajouter que Plank avait s~ former des disciples dont certains sont devenus aussi des 'savants' qui ont euxmbnes joub un r61e actif ~ l'llF. Rudolf Plank est mort le 16 juin 1973, a Karlsruhe, universellement admir~ et regrett~.
Roger Th~venot
preservation. Plank played an eminent r61e in the IIR for 55 years. As early as 1914 he represented the German Government on the Council of the Organization (then known as the International Association of Refrigeration) and he regularly participated in International Refrigeration Congresses. In 1955 he was elected Vice-president of the Executive Committee of the IIR and in 1959 he became President of the General Conference, a post he held until 1967. He was therefore not only the 'leading personality' of the IIR but also, unquestionably, the most renowned "refrigerationist in the world. It should also be added that Plank trained his own students, some of whom have also become 'scientists' and themselves play an active role in the work of the Institute. Rudolf Plank died on 16 June 1973 in Karlsruhe, a universally admired man who is missed by all of us.
Rev. Int. Froid 1986 Vol 9 Juillet
199