Walter Zapp

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Limited edition Minox CLX, with Walter Zapp signature

Walter Zapp (Latvian: Valters Caps; 4 September [O.S. 22 August] 1905 in Riga – 17 July 2003 in Binningen)[1] was a Baltic German inventor.[2] His greatest creation was the subminiature camera (Minox).[3]

Zapp was born in Riga, Governorate of Livonia.[2] In 1932, living in Estonia, he began developing the then subminiature camera by first creating wooden models, which led to the first prototype in 1936.[3] It was introduced to the market in 1938. Minox cameras were made in VEF (Valsts Elektrotehniskā Fabrika). VEF made 17,000 Minox cameras. VEF had received more than 50 patents worldwide on Zapp's inventions. During the Spring 1941 Resettlement of Baltic Germans, Walter Zapp moved to Germany. After World War II, in 1945, he founded the Minox GmbH in Wetzlar. The company still exists.

In 2001 he got the honorary doctorate of the Latvian Academy of Sciences and was decorated with the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana for his special services to the Republic of Estonia.[4] Eesti Post has issued a Europa postage stamp in 1994 to commemorate Walter Zapp and his patented invention (Estonian patent No. 2628), the Minox subminiature camera.[5]

In 2001, when he went to Latvia for the last time, he said that he had gone to celebrate his 100th birthday in Latvia. He died at age of 98, in Binningen near Basel, Switzerland.[2]

References

  1. ↑ "Find A Grave". Retrieved 20 December 2010. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Apinis, Pēteris (2006). A Hundred Great Latvians. Riga: Nacionālais apgāds. p. 126. ISBN 9984-26-288-X. OCLC 238892134. "Walter Zapp was born on 4 September 1905 in the family of a Riga merchant. His father was a British subject, but his mother was a Baltic German." 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Rangefinder 59 (12). December 2010. p. 98. 
  4. ↑ Teenetemärkide kavalerid: Walter Zapp Retrieved 24 August 2013.
  5. ↑ Eesti Post: Postmargid: EUROPA. Eesti patendid/ 072-06-1994 www.post.ee (Retrieved 25.08.2013)

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