Karl Terzaghi

Born Oct. 2, 1883, in Prague; died Oct. 25, 1963, in Winchester, Mass. American engineer and scientist in soil mechanics and foundation engineering. Doctor of sciences (1912).

After graduating in 1904 from the Technische Hochschule (now the Technical University) in Graz, Austria, Terzaghi worked as a geologist. From 1916 he conducted research and taught in higher educational institutions in Austria, Turkey, the USA (including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University), and other countries. He was one of the founders of soil mechanics. He founded the International Society of Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering in 1936 and was the organization’s president until 1957 and honorary president thereafter. He was the author of a large number of research works and expert evaluations, many originals of which are preserved in the Terzaghi Library at the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute in Oslo.