Alexander Wittek

Who was Alexander Wittek?

Alexander Wittek was an Austrian-Hungarian architect and chess master.

As an architect Wittek worked in Bosnia and Herzegovina during Austro-Hungarian Empire. His most famous works in Sarajevo are the City Hall building called "Vijećnica" which later became the National Library and the Sebilj public fountain, both of which were built in the pseudo-Moorish style.

Wittek was also a chess master. He tied for 5-6th at Berlin 1881, and was in 9th place at Vienna 1882. In 1882 he was ranked 9th in the world.

Wittek died in a lunatic asylum in Graz in 1894 having been diagnosed with a "paralytic mental disorder" the previous year. One source says that he committed suicide but another cites tuberculosis.