Karl Elsener (inventor) Karl Elsener (inventor) Karl Elsener (9 October 1860 - 26 December 1918) was a Swiss cutler, inventor and entrepreneur. Karl Elsener completed an apprenticeship as a knife maker in Zug. After some journeyman years he opened a factory in Ibach, Switzerland in 1884 for the manufacture of knives and surgical instruments. He invented the Swiss army knife in 1891 and developed his knife manufacturing company into what has become Victorinox. From 1912 to 1918 Elsener was a member of the cantonal parliament of the Canton of Schwyz. He was married three times. After him his son, Carl Elsener (1886-1950), and
Carl Elsener Jr. Carl Elsener Jr. Carl Elsener Jr. (* 1958) is a Swiss entrepreneur and, since 2007, CEO of Victorinox AG, a family-owned company that employed 2,000 people worldwide in 2015. Carl Elsener Jr. is the great-grandson of Karl Elsener (1860-1918) and the son of Carl Elsener Sr. (1922-2013). Karl Elsener had opened a factory in Ibach in 1884 for the production of knives and surgical instruments, from which the Messerfabrik Victorinox developed. In October 2000, Elsener founded together with his father and his brother Eduard Elsener as a successor solution, the Victorinox Foundation, to ensure the survival and further prosperity of