Louis Leitz
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Louis Leitz | |
|---|---|
| Born | 2 May 1846 Ingersheim, Neckarkreis, Kingdom of Württemberg |
| Died | 18 May 1918 (aged 72) Stuttgart, Neckarkreis, Kingdom of Württemberg |
| Occupations | Entrepreneur, inventor, founder of Esselte Leitz GmbH & Co KG |
Louis Leitz (May 2, 1846 – May 18, 1918) was a German mechanic and entrepreneur who came to fame as the inventor of the Leitz ring binders later named after him.
Childhood
Johann Ludwig (Louis) Leitz was born on May 2, 1846, in Ingersheim, Kingdom of Württemberg, in southwest Germany. His were humble beginnings: His father Johann Ludwig Leitz (1810–1860) was a cooper, while his mother Christophine Friederike Durian (1812–1858) was the daughter of the local butcher Jakob Durian. Both his father and mother died while Johann Ludwig Leitz was still a child and in 1860, aged 14, his six siblings he was an orphan.[1][2]
In keeping with the fashion of the day, Leitz later changed his middle name to the French name Louis.[3]
Education and early career
Around 1860 Leitz began an apprenticeship as a turner in the metal-working trade at the Theilacker company in Neuenstadt am Kocher. His grandfather Christian Gottlieb had lived until 1807 in Neuenstadt am Kocher, outside Heilbronn. Until 1868, Leitz is said to have worked at the same time for mechanic Ernst Westhäuser in Heilbronn.[4] Alongside his apprenticeship, he worked as a mechanic for his brother-in-law Jakob Trefz in a coal dealership in Stuttgart. Starting in 1870, he worked for a year in the Stuttgart-based Friedrich Rauh sewing machine factory; it manufactured not only sewing machines but also mechanisms for ‘bibliorhaptes’ – the predecessor of the modern file binder. It was there that Leitz gained his first experience in making bibliorhaptes, a patented mechanical binding device invented in France in the 19th century that innovated office management. When the French patent for the bibliorhapte expired in 1868 it became possible to manufacture the device in Germany, too. During Leitz’ time in the factory in Stuttgart he got to know mechanic Carl Heinrich, who was the manufacturing foreman for the Bibliorhapte mechanism.[5][2]
Family
In 1872, Louis Leitz married Julie Adele Gauchat, a teacher of French. She died only five years after their wedding; the couple had had no children. In 1882, Louis Leitz married Sophie née Rock (1860–1944). Leitz died on May 18, 1918, aged 72, and was buried in Stuttgart’s Pragfriedhof cemetery. He and Sophie Leitz had four children, first two boys Ludwig (1884–1954) and Eberhard (1888–1955), and then two daughters, Elsa (born 1895) and Gertrud (born 1897). Both sons became partners in their father’s company before he died, namely on April 1, 1918.[6][7][2] His three grandsons, Manfred, Martin, and Conrad Leitz, as well as his grandson-in-law Dr. Herbert Klaiber later worked as the third generation of the family in Leitz, which was still family owned.[8] Until its sale in 1998, the company was managed by four executives who were all members of the fourth generation of Louis Leitz’ descendants.
