Eduard Gruner

Carl Eduard Gruner (in English, often referred to as Charles Edward Gruner) was a Basel-born Swiss engineer, manager of the Swissboring Company and later on a partner at the "Gruner Brothers" ("Gebr. Gruner", today "Gruner Group") engineering company. He made considerable contributions to many projects in Europe. the Middle East, Central Asia and South America, most particularly the construction of the Trans-Iranian Railway, in which he participated as a Sector Engineer.[1]

Carl Eduard Gruner
Born2 June 1905
Basel, Switzerland
Died21 May 1984
Basel, Switzerland
OccupationEngineer
Parent(s)Heinrich Eduard Gruner

During the Second World War (1939–1941 and 1943–1946) Gruner was in charge of several military construction works in his homeland. Between 1941 and 1943 he was in charge of railways and power plants construction in Norway.[1] From 1946 he was mainly involved in projects outside Europe. In 1947 he experienced the death of his father, Heinrich Gruner, who had established an engineering company of his own in 1862.[2] In 1948, Gruner became partner in his late father's company. As the responsible for the Public Works Department, Gruner directed the construction of power plants, railways and irrigation systems in India, Pakistan, Syria, Sudan and Uruguay.

In 1976 he was asked by a subcommittee of the United Nations General Assembly to survey the damage caused to the Syrian town of Quneitra during the Israel-Syrian wars in 1967 and in 1973. Gruner worked with team of Swiss engineers and military experts, who lived in the town for four months and examined every recognizable structure. They concluded that some damage had been caused by the warfare, however most of the damage had been the result of deliberate destruction by heavy machinery. Gruner's report served as a confirmation of the Syrian allegation that Israel deliberately destroyed the town after the 1973 War, before handing it back to Syrian civil control according to the ceasefire agreements.[3] The UN General Assembly adopted his report.

References
  1. Thomas Fuchs (13 May 2008). "Gruner, Eduard" [Historical Dictionary of Switzerland]. Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse (in French). Berne, Switzerland: Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse. Retrieved 12 February 2010.
  2. Gruner AG (2 November 2009). "Schweizer Pioniere der Wirtschaft und Technik" [Swiss pioneers in business and technology] (in German). Archived from the original on 10 November 2009. Retrieved 12 February 2010.
  3. H. S. Amerasinghe (1 October 1976). "Report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights Of the Population of the Occupied Territories". United Nations General Assembly. Archived from the original on 22 June 2011. Retrieved 11 February 2011.
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