Joseph Schomacker was the son of a merchant who originated from Lübeck in Germany who settled in Livland (now parts of Latvia and Estonia). He studied from 1878-86 at the University of Dorpat first physics and later medicine. In the following decades he worked at a number of medical institutions including the German Alexander Hospital (1886-87, 1907), the Nikolai Children’s Hospital (1889-91), the hospital of the Imperial Humanitarian Society (1894-1908) and the Alexandra Foundation. In 1887 he married Alexandrine von Mickwitz. The marriage remained childless. From 1918-20 he lived in Riga again before he moved to Germany and adopted German citizenship. He spent his last years in a retirement home in Kötzschenbroda in Saxony.
Joseph Schomacker joined the St. Petersburg Imperial Yacht Club in 1893. Four years later he purchased the yacht “Fram”. Schomacker was the helmsman of the “Gallia II” in the 10-metre class at the 1912 Olympic Games. In the match race for the second place they lost to the Finnish yacht “Nina” to win bronze. As of 2024, he is still the oldest Olympic medallist in the history of Russian and Soviet sports, aged 53 during the Stockholm Olympics. Owner of the Gallia II was Alexander Ivanovich Vyshnegradsky (1867-1925) a banker and entrepreneur. He was the son of a former Minister of Finance and the father of a famous composer
Russian Federation
Latvia