Bojan Kraut

Bojan Kraut was a Slovene mechanical engineer who wrote "Strojniški Priročnik", a well-known reference text from former Yugoslavia.

Biography

Kraut was born in Kamnik where he finished elementary school. He finished Gymnasium in Ljubljana in 1926. In 1932 he became a mechanical engineer after graduating from Zagreb University.
After working in Tivat, he became a constructor in Ljubljana's foundry. In 1937 he became a teaching assistant at the Ljubljana University where he received title of "honorary engineer". His last job before the Second World War was in Slavonski Brod, where he worked as a leading constructor of locomotives and railcars.
After WW2 he contributed to the restoration of Yugoslav industry. He worked as a leading engineer at Tovarna avtomobilov Maribor and later became a technical director at the Litostroj machinery factory.
Finally he became a professor at the Ljubljana University and was elected for a Faculty Dean and a University Rector later.
In April 1954 he published "Strojniški Priročnik", a handbook for mechanical engineers. This handbook became popular among engineers from all parts of Yugoslavia and after Kraut's death in 1991 it was renamed to Krautov Strojniški Priročnik . The Handbook is the best selling Slovenian scientific book ever.