Emil Mosonyi (Budapest, Hungary, november 10, 1910 – Karlsruhe, Germany, april 24 2009) was a civil(hydraulic) engineer of Hungarian origins and a professor at the Technical University of Budapest as well at the University of Karlsruhe. He was a member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and had been awarded the Kossuth Prize and the Széchenyi Prize.
Biography
editBetween 1934 and 1936 his career started as a teaching assistant at the [[ Technical University of Budapest]. Between 1942 and 1948 he was employed at the Office for Irrigation Affairs then as the Director of the Design Office for Water Power Plants.
From 1948 he was a university professor and between 1953 and 1957 Department Head at the Technical University of Budapest.
From the 1950s he was the lead designer of a planned hydropower facility on the Danube and technical chief of the Hungarian-Czechoslovakian working group. This project was to be the Gabčíkovo - Nagymaros Dams. Mosonyi was chief expert during the construction of the Békeésszentandrás dam project, the chief design engineer for the Tiszalök dam project and later its chief facility engineer. It was at his initiative that Hungary's first long term water management framework had been created.
For his paricitpation during the 1956 Hungarian revolution he was suspended from his position in 1957, although he still consulted on engineering issues. In 1964 he was invited the the University of Karlsruhe by the Minister of Culture for Baden-Württemberg. He was tried in absentia in Hungary in 1965, only being allowed to return to Hungary after the fall of Communism, in 1990 - at which point he received a number of prizes honoring his achievements.
In 1964 the UN's Food and Agricultural Organization asks him to travel to Africa as an expert.
From 1965 he was a professor at the University of Karlsruhe, director of the Theodor Rehbock Laboratory and professor emeritus after 1984.
Professor Mosonyi shared his expertise worldwide, mainly on the topics of hydropower, holding presentations in 52 cities of the world on the design, construction and operation of hydropower projects. His research contributed to desing of the lock gates for the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, one of the engineering feats of the 20th century.
He received an honorary doctorate from the Budapest Technical University. In 1963 he was chosen to be a member of the National Academy of Sciences of Argentina. In 1993 University of Auckland in New Zealand created the Mosonyi prize to honor sustainable hydropower development.
His most significant publication is the three volumes of Water Power Development, published in English, German and Hungarian. His publication list exceeds 200 items.
He is one of the founders of the International Water Resources Association in 1967. He was also founder and first president in 1995 of the International Hydropower Association
His books are now available in English from India, contact ncb_rke@rediffmail.com. Price Indian Rs. 3990-00 each volume equivalent to U S $125-00 each inclusive of airmail handling.