Walter Zapp (Latvian: Valters Caps; 4 September [O.S. 22 August] 1905 – 17 July 2003) was a Baltic German inventor.[1] His best-known creation was the Minoxsubminiature camera.[2] Over the course of his life, he was granted over 60 patents.
Biography
Minox Riga camera made by VEFLimited edition Minox CLX camera, with Walter Zapp signature
Zapp was born in Riga, Governorate of Livonia (now Latvia) to a Baltic German mother and a British father.[1] In 1932, while living in Estonia, he began developing the then subminiature camera by first creating wooden models, which led to the first prototype in 1936.[2] It was introduced to the market in 1938. Minox cameras were made by VEF (Valsts Elektrotehniskā Fabrika) in Latvia. VEF made 17,000 Minox cameras.
After World War II, in 1945, he founded the Minox GmbH in Wetzlar, Germany. The company still exists.
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 aged 97, in Binningen near Basel, Switzerland.[1]
Patents
The innovative design and technical solutions of Zapp's camera were patented around the world. VEF received 66 patents in 18 countries for Zapp's inventions.[3] In the 1960s, Zapp was named as the inventor in several patents granted to Minox GmbH for improvements and modifications of a subminiature camera.[4] In the beginning of the 1990s, Zapp patented his last invention, the Minox T8 pocket telescope.[5]
^ abcApinis, Pēteris (2006). A Hundred Great Latvians. Riga: Nacionālais apgāds. p. 126. ISBN978-9984-26-288-8. OCLC238892134. 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.
