Leopold Ruzicka, 13 September 1887 - 26 September 1976

Abstract

Leopold Ruzicka was born on 13 September 1887 in Vukovar, a small township in Slavonia—one of the provinces of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. His father was of Czech* and Croat and his mother of Croat and Swabian extraction. All of his forebears were artisans and farmers; his father Stjepan was a cooper and an ardent Croatian patriot while his mother Amalija ( née Sever) leaned more towards her German background. Until his life’s end, Leopold never forgot his Croatian and those in the know had little difficulty in discerning here and there Croatian turns of phrase in his German speech. After he lost his father at the early age of four his mother took him and his younger brother Stjepan to live with relatives in the nearby larger town of Osijek. Here he received his early education, first at a primary school and then at the ‘Classical Gymnasium’. His youth was carefree and happy, thanks to his mother’s affectionate devotion and strict upbringing. He kept in life-long touch with some of his school comrades; they remembered him as introverted, quiet and phlegmatic—an impression which later aquaintances have found rather hard to believe. He was a good but not outstanding student, with an early leaning towards natural sciences in preference to history and philosophy. He was fond of playing chess (even during lessons); later on he gave up the game, considering it a waste of time. * The name Ruzicka is of Czech origin and is pronounced Rūzhitshka.