ABOUT THE KORISTKA OPTICA FIRM, MILAN:
Francesco Koristka (1851 - 1933), was born on March 1, 1851 in
the village of Jakartovice located in the Moravian-Silesian Region of what is
now the Czech Republic. Note: Several historical references indicate that
he was born in Poland and so was of Polish origin. However, as Jakartovice is located just south
of the Polish border, he may have spent most of his youth in Poland, thus the
source of this alternative information regarding his place of birth and nationality.
As
time passed, the young Koristka discovered the world of optical design and
engineering by working as an optical designer in a German optical factory (most
likely in Poland) and later as an optician in Vienna, Austria (quite possibly
with the Reichert optical firm as some of his microscopes resemble those made
by Reichert).
In
1851, he emigrated to Milan, Italy and for a time he was an assistant to Angelo
Salmoiraghi (1848-1939) who was an entrepreneur, optician and engineer in a
company named Filotecnica-Salmoiraghi that produced a varied array of high precision scientific
instruments for industry.
In the year 1880, he left the Filotechnia firm
and set up his own optical workshop in Milan and began to produce several
optical devices including microscopes.
In the following year in 1881 he founded the company that bears his
name, Fratelli Koristka, SA (Brothers Koristka, SA).
Thanks to his professional relationship with the
famous German optical engineer, Ernst Abbe, he had the opportunity to build
microscopes and photographic lenses using Zeiss patents. Also, some of his early microscopes were
based on Zeiss stands and Bracegirdle states that some of his early stands may even had been made by Zeiss or Hartnack. Ultimately, his company thus
became what was undoubtedly the most important Italian company for the
construction of microscopes and one of the few Italian industries which
exported precision optical instruments both to the rest of Europe and also to America. From the year 1885 onward, he signed his
microscopes and other optical devices as "F. Koristka-Milano."
Francesco
Koristka participated in numerous universal exhibitions and won the gold medal
at the Chicago Exhibition in 1893, at the Paris Exhibition in 1900 and at both
the Brussels and Buenos Aires Exhibitions in 1910. Also, in 1907, he was decorated Knight of
Labor by the Italian Ministry of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce in the
industry division.
These
various awards and distinctions demonstrated the international scope and
success experienced by his company and its productions.
From
1890 to 1896 the company was located at Via San Vittore 47, Milan. From 1896 to Circa 1920, the company was
located at via G. Rovere 2 in Milan.
Thereafter, it was located at 47 Via Ampere in Milan up to the
1960s.
In
1896, the company produced one of the first telephoto lenses of the time and certainly
the first in Italy. It was based on a
design by Carlo Negri. In addition,
Koristka was credited with the invention of the semi-apochromatic objective,
which combined high quality with low price.
This type of objective lens was used on the company's microscopes from
the beginning of the 20th Century to the advent of the First World
War. During the First World War,
Koristka produced binoculars intended for use by officers of the Royal Navy.
In
1917, the company issued an illustrated catalogue of microscopes that listed 7
different models, followed by several other optical accessories and parts. It also included a sophisticated microtome
and a large microphotographic apparatus.
In
1929 the company was absorbed by Officine Galileo - Firenze based in Florence,
Italy. However, microscopes were still
produced in Milan under the Koristka label at least up to the year 1968 when microscope
production appears to have ceased.
Francesco
Koristka died in Milan on the 26th of November 1933.