Gernsback, Hugo

(born Aug. 16, 1884, Luxembourg, Lux.—died Aug. 19, 1967, New York City, N.Y., U.S.) American inventor and publisher who was largely responsible for the establishment of science fiction as an independent literary form.

After receiving a technical education in Luxembourg and Germany, Gernsback traveled to the United States in 1904 to market an improved dry battery that he had invented.

He formed a radio supply house, and in 1908 he founded Modern Electrics (later absorbed by Popular Science), a pioneer magazine for radio enthusiasts. In 1911 the magazine published a serialized story by Gernsback that later became the novel Ralph 124C 41+ (1925). Set in the 27th century, its plot was a rather formulaic pulp adventure, but the richly imagined future, filled with fantastic inventions and spaceship travel, established many of the conventions that came to characterize science fiction.

In 1926 Gernsback began publishing Amazing Stories, one of the first magazines devoted exclusively to what he referred to as “scientifiction.” The stories were often crudely written, but the very existence of the magazine and its successors, including Wonder Stories, encouraged the development and refinement of the genre. His contribution was later recognized with the establishment of the annual Hugo Award for the best science fiction novel.