Stanko Bloudek
Stanko Bloudek was a Slovenian aeroplane and automobile designer, a sportsman and a sport inventor, designer, builder and educator.
Curriculum Vitae
Stanko Bloudek was born on 11th of February 1890 as son of a Czech father and a Slovenian mother in the Slovenian mining town of Idrija. He attended school in Most (in today’s Czech Republic), where his father worked in the local mining industry. After passing his A-levels in 1908 Bloudek studied in Prague. Apart his study he was engaged as a pioneer of flight. In 1910 he presented his first monoplane called "Racek" (Gull). A second one named "Libella" (Dragonfly) followed in the next year. For same time he worked together with Igo Etrich, inventor of the famous Etrich Taube.
After the end of Word War I Bloudek settled to the home of this mother, which now belonged to the new born Yugoslavia. There he was busy in the developing of flight, too, and also showed interest in improving cars.
Apart this engagement he was as active sportsman. In 1928 he became member of the Olympic team for the Winter Games in Sankt Moritz as speed-skater, but finally did not compete in the in competition. As an engineer Stanko Bloudek was engaged in the building of sport sites, too. According to the his drafts the Bloudek Giant, the ski jumping hill in Planica was buildin 1934, There the first jump over 100 metres was achieved in 1936 by the Austrian Sepp Bradl. This was, at the time, the biggest jumping hill in the world, sometimes called "the mother of all jumping hills". Bloudek was also active in the field of sport’s administration. In 1919 he participated in the founding of the Yugoslavian Olympic Committee. Finally in 1948 Bloudek became member of the IOC.
On 26th November 1959 Stanko Bloudek died in Ljubljana.
Appraisal
To honour his achievements a monument dedicated to Stanko Bloudek was erected in Ljubljana. Finally the most prestigious Slovenian Sports Award, the Bloudek Award,was named after the “Father of Slovenian winter sports”.
Literature
- Marko Malec: Stanko Bloudek in njegova letala, Ljubljana ISBN 978-961-251-175
