KODA, EMIL VON

born Nov. 19, 1839, Plzen, Bohemia died Aug. 8, 1900, Amstetten, Austria German engineer and industrialist who founded one of Europe's greatest industrial complexes, known for its arms production in both World Wars. After studying engineering in Germany, koda became chief engineer of a small machine factory in Plze n (Pilsen), which three years later he bought and rapidly expanded, building his own railway connection to the main Vienna-Cheb line in 1886 and adding an arms factory in 1890 to produce a newly invented machine gun for the Austrian Army. In 1899 he incorporated his growing collection of machine shops, forges, and tool-and-die shops in Plzen as the koda Works.