Sigurd Smith

Born on May 10, 1874, in Jordløse near Svebølle, Sigurd Smith trained first as a smith before moving into engineering. He prepared for the polytechnic entrance exam while working with Poul la Cour’s experimental windmill at Askov, later studied mechanical engineering, and graduated as a cand.polyt. in 1900.

After graduating, he worked at the Gothersgades electricity plant in Copenhagen and then joined A/S De forenede Papirfabrikker, where he became chief engineer in 1910. His research on papermaking machinery earned him a dr.techn. degree in 1920, and he later presented his work in London, where the Royal Society of Arts awarded him a silver medal.

Smith is also remembered for his historical writing on Søren Hjorth. In books published in 1911 and 1912, he argued carefully for Hjorth’s importance in the development of the dynamo principle. He retired from his main post in 1930 and continued as a technical consultant to paper factories until his death on February 17, 1936, in Charlottenlund.