Bernhard Schmidt

Bernhard Woldemar Schmidt (11 April [O.S. 30 March] 1879 on Naissaar, Estonia, Russian Empire – 1 December 1935 in Hamburg, Germany) was a German optician. In 1930 he invented the Schmidt telescope which corrected for the optical errors of spherical aberration, coma, and astigmatism, making possible for the first time the construction of very large, wide-angled reflective cameras of short exposure time for astronomical research.

Schmidt was the son of Carl Constantin and Marie Helene Christine (née Rosen) Schmidt. He was born and grew up on the island of Naissaar (German: Nargen), off the coast of Tallinn (Reval), Estonia, then part of the Russian Empire. The inhabitants of this island, mainly Estonian Swedes, generally spoke Swedish or Estonian, but the Schmidt family also spoke German. Bernhard was the oldest of six children, three boys (one of whom died in infancy) and three girls.

Naissaar was a small, rural island whose population mainly supported themselves through fishing and piloting ships into the port of Reval. With his younger brother August Fredrik, Bernhard Schmidt engaged in many childhood adventures on the island. He was an extremely inquisitive, inventive, and imaginative young person and adult. For example, when young he built his own camera from a purchased lens and old concertina bellows and succeeded in photographing his local surroundings and various family members, and even sold some of his photos. He also became fascinated with the night sky and constellations.

...
Wikipedia