35 
Im Namen des Präsidenten der Internationalen Gesellschaft für Photogramme 
trie, Herr Mogensen überbrachte Herr Hofrat Neumaier den Dank unserer Ge 
sellschaft. Es haben 12 Redner am Grab gesprochen. 
Hofrat Prof. Dolezal war eine hervorragende, ausgesprochene Persönlichkeit, 
die bei allen, die ihm begegnet sind, einen starken, bleibenden Eindruck hinter- 
liess. 
Die Internationale Gesellschaft für Photogrammetrie dankt ihrem verstorbe 
nen Ehrenpräsidenten, Hofrat Prof. Eduard Dolezal für alles, was er für die 
Wissenschaft, insbesondere die Photogrammetrie, in seinem langen Leben ge 
leistet hat. 
Speech in Memory of Professor Eduard Dolezal. 
The President of our Society has asked me, on the occasion of the opening of this Congress, to 
say a few words in memory of our late Honorary President. It is indeed a great honour for me 
to speak here of my highly respected and dear friend Dolezal. 
Dolezal was born on March 2nd 1862, the son of a weaver in Mährisch-Budwitz. In 1876, as a 
result of a financial misfortune, his father lost his house and property, and settled in Vienna, 
where he found work in a silk factory. But through this setback, deeply felt by those concerned, 
Providence enabled an unusually gifted person to receive a suitable education. The fourteen-year 
old boy attended the lower secondary school, and he gave private lessons to contribute to his 
maintenance. He went on to a teachers’ training college, but after a year and a half returned to 
school, convinced that elementary schoolteaching' could not fulfil his aspirations. In 1884 he passed 
the matriculation examination with distinction and entered the Vienna Technical College with a 
view to becoming a secondary school master in mathematics. He also attended lectures in 
mechanics, physics, applied geometry, geodetics and astronomy. Through his great interest in his 
work and his pedagogic talent he attracted the attention of his teachers, especially Professor 
Schell, who held the Chair of applied geometry. Through his influence Dolezal was appointed first 
assistant, and then professor at the newly-founded secondary technical school at Sarajevo. Schell 
followed with interest his numerous scientific works in mathematics and photogrammetry. Wanting 
to include him in his university staff, he offered Dolezal a new post as constructor in 1895, and 
he accepted this although it cost him his position in the school and half his income. Four years 
later he became professor of pure and applied geometry at the Leoben Technical Academy. Here 
he worked intensively, and published his well-known manuals and text books and logarithm tables. 
On October 1st 1905 he was called to succeed Schell at the Vienna Technical College. After 
twenty-five years service, he went into retirement on October 1st 1930, his health undermined by 
his unending devotion to his work. He was one of the most popular university teachers, greatly 
loved for the clarity of thought and fine spirit he displayed in his lectures, and also for his 
character as a man. The close contact that he maintained with leading practicians enabled him to 
develop his subject according to the practical needs. He took a leading part in the reform of the 
Austrian technical colleges, and it is thanks to him that a department of surveying was created in 
1924. He was also the principal figure in the work of the State in this field after the first war, 
and was editor of the »Österreichische Zeitschrift für Vermessungswesen» from 1907 until his death. 
He was awarded numerous honours and distinctions, at home and abroad. He was a member 
of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and corresponding member of foreign academies. Four 
universities declared him doctor honoris causa, and the Vienna Technical College, of which he was 
Rector in 1908—09 elected him as its first Honorary Senator. 
Now to speak briefly of his activities in photogrammetry: as constructor at the Technical 
College he had held lectures and courses on this subject, and he devoted himself to the construc 
tion of a phototheodolite. He was deeply convinced of the future of photogrammetry, and at the 
time that he was called to his professorship, in 1905, there was already intense activity in this 
field in Vienna. In 1907 the »Österreichische Gesellschaft für Photogrammetrie» was created, with 
Dolezal as President. He remained President, as a result of continuous and unanimous election, 
until his death, with the exception of the period 17th June 1938 to 21st March 1948, when the 
Austrian society was incorporated in the German one. He was also editor of the International 
Archives of Photogrammetry, published in four languages. Six volumes came out between 1908 
and 1923. 
In 1910 Dolezal undertook the foundation of the International Society for Photogrammetry. This 
was not international in the present-day sense, but rather an extension of the Austrian Society 
to other countries. Until 1926 only Austria, Germany, Norway, Denmark and Sweden belonged to 
this society. The real foundation of our present international society took place in 1930 in the 
Zurich Technical College and from that time he was its President of Honour. 
Dolezal died on July 7th 1955 in Baden and was buried at the Helenenfriedhof there. On behalf 
of Mr. Mogensen, President of the International Society for Photogrammetry, Mr. Neumaier made 
a speech expressing the gratitude of our society. 
And on this occasion the International Society for Photogrammetry thanks once again its late 
honorary President, Professor Eduard Dolezal, for all that he did for science, and particularly for 
photogrammetry, during his long life.