Tehnička mehanika počela se izdvajati iz klasične mehanike na prijelazu iz XVIII. u XIX. stoljeće, tj. početkom industrijske revolucije, čemu je pridonijelo osnivanje visokih tehničkih škola u Europi. U Hrvatskoj se tehnička mehanika počela razvijati u drugoj polovici XIX. stoljeća, a naročito nakon osnivanja Visoke kraljevske tehničke škole 1919. u Zagrebu. Rad donosi biografije uglednih hrvatskih, ali i stranih znanstvenika, koji su pridonijeli razvoju tehničke mehanike u Hrvatskoj u XX. stoljeću. Mechanical engineering started to become distinct from classical mechanics on the turn of the 18th to the 19th century, i.e. at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, prompted by the establishment of polytechnics in Europe. In Croatia, mechanical engineering began to develop in the second half of the 19th century, intensifying after the establishment of the Royal Polytechnic in Zagreb in 1919. This paper also presents the biographies of distinguished Croatian and foreign scientists who contributed to the development of mechanical engineering in Croatia in the 20th century.