Karl Elsener (inventor) his grandson Carl Elsener senior (1922-2013) and his great-grandson Carl Elsener Jr. (born 1958) led the Victorinox company. 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
Karl Beurlen Karl Beurlen Karl Beurlen (17 April 1901 – 27 December 1985) was a German paleontologist. Beurlen was born in Aalen. He attended University of Tubingen. He completed a PhD in 1923. Beurlen was a proponent of orthogenesis and saltational evolution. He used the term "metakinesis" (coined by Otto Jaekel) to describe sudden changes of development in organisms. He also invented the term "palingenesis" as a mechanism for his orthogenetic theory of evolution. He was an assistant of Edwin Hennig. He was a proponent of National Socialist ideology and wrote about the Aryan race. He was director of the Zoologische Staatssammlung