Franc Trkman

Who was Franc Trkman?

Franc Trkman was an inventor and entrepreneur.

He was born in 1903 on Nanos - then in Austria-Hungary, now in Slovenia - and died in 1978 in Ljubljana. After attending primary school he continued his schooling in Ljubljana and became a carpentry foreman and, later, a mechanic. By the start of the Second World War he had founded his own workshop in Ljubljana, where he employed a few people until he became seriously ill in 1968.

In the former Yugoslavia and throughout Europe he was famous for a large number of patented inventions. Most of these he went on to manufacture and market himself, but where the market demanded greater quantities he sold or licensed the inventions

Altogether he patented 15 inventions in Yugoslavia and of these some also in Italy, Argentina and Germany. All these inventions were realised in practice and in their time were great hits. His watertight windows and framed balcony doors were installed throughout Yugoslavia in representative buildings and schools, and also in the Karadjordjevo palace of Marshal Tito in Serbia.