Background
Benno Homolka was born on October 25, 1860 in Bohemia, Czech Republic.
Benno Homolka was born on October 25, 1860 in Bohemia, Czech Republic.
Benno Homolka received a good education, studying at the universities of Prague, Munich and Erlangen, receiving a Doctor of Philosophy in 1884.
After graduation Benno Homolka worked for four years as an assistant at Royal Bavarian Academy of Science, then joined the Farbwerke vorm Meister Lucius und Brüning am Main near Frankfurt. Originally engaged in the development of new dyes, Benno Homolka later began work in the photographic department with Ernst Koenig. Together they developed the Pinachrome color process, based on leuco dyes, which was unsuccessfully marketed in 1904 but set the stage for later work by Fischer and Siegrist and for modern color-coupler photography.
Benno Homolka discovered the sensitometer Pinacyanol in 1905, and in 1907 worked with leuco bases as color developers. He was the author of numerous articles on photographic developers, solarization and photographic emulsions.