====== Thomke, Ernst ======
Dr. **Ernst Thomke** is a Swiss engineer and businessman credited as father of the [[Swatch]], head of [[SMH]] (now known as [[Swatch Group]]) and savior of Swiss companies.

Thomke was born April 21, [[1939]] in [[Bienne/Biel]] Switzerland. The son of a physician, Thomke apprenticed as a mechanic at [[ETA]] in [[Grenchen]] and studied science at the Universities in Bern and Lausanne. After working at pharmaceutical firm Beecham, Thomke returned to ETA to help reorganize the company, which was under assault during the [[quartz crisis]].

Thomke focused on consolidation of the industry and participated there during the merger with [[A. Schild]]. He became CEO of [[Ebauches SA]] in [[1982]] and joined the Board of Directors of parent company [[ASUAG]]. He was involved in the consolidation of ASUAG and [[SSIH]] into [[SMH]] under [[Nicolas G. Hayek]], and was CEO of the consolidated company from [[1984]] through [[1991]].


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