Zénobe Gramme: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|Belgian electrical engineer (1826–1901)}}
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{{Infobox person
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|resting_place = [[Père Lachaise Cemetery]]
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|known_for = [[Gramme dynamo]]
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|occupation = [[electrical engineer]]
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'''Zénobe Théophile Gramme''' (4 April 1826 - 20 January 1901) was a [[Belgium|Belgian]] [[electrical engineer]]. He was born at [[Jehay-Bodegnée]] on 4 April 1826, the sixth child of Mathieu-Joseph Gramme,<ref name="hyperpaysagedejehay1">{{cite web|url=http://www.hyperpaysagedejehay.be/zenobe2.htm |title=Zénobe Gramme : un enfant du pays |publisher=Hyperpaysagedejehay.be |date=8 June 2008 |accessdate=12 March 2014}}</ref> and died at [[Bois-Colombes]] on 20 January 1901. He invented the [[Gramme machine]], a type of [[direct current]] [[dynamo]] capable of generating smoother (less [[Alternating current|AC]]) and much higher voltages than the dynamos known to that point.
'''Zénobe Théophile Gramme''' ({{IPA-fr|zenɔb teɔfil ɡʁam}}; 4 April 1826 – 20 January 1901) was a [[Belgium|Belgian]] [[electrical engineer]]. He was born at [[Amay|Jehay-Bodegnée]] on 4 April 1826, the sixth child of Mathieu-Joseph Gramme,<ref name="hyperpaysagedejehay1">{{cite web|url=http://www.hyperpaysagedejehay.be/zenobe2.htm |title=Zénobe Gramme : un enfant du pays |publisher=Hyperpaysagedejehay.be |date=8 June 2008 |access-date=12 March 2014}}</ref> and died at [[Bois-Colombes]] on 20 January 1901. He invented the [[Gramme machine]], a type of [[direct current]] [[dynamo]] capable of generating smoother (less [[Alternating current|AC]]) and much higher voltages than the dynamos known to that point.

==Career==
Gramme was poorly educated and semi-literate throughout his life. His talent was in handicraft and when he left school he became a joiner. After moving to Paris he took a job as a model maker at a company that manufactured electrical equipment and there became interested in technology.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.madehow.com/inventorbios/61/Z-nobe-Th-ophile-Gramme.html|title=Zénobe Théophile Gramme Biography (1826-1901)|publisher=How products are made|access-date=6 March 2017}}</ref>

Having built an improved dynamo, Gramme, in association with [[Hippolyte Fontaine]], opened a factory to develop the device. The business, called Société des Machines Magnéto-Électriques Gramme, manufactured the Gramme dynamo, Gramme ring, Gramme armature and other devices. In 1873 a Gramme dynamo was exhibited at the Vienna exhibition.

He was made an officer of the National Order of the [[Legion of Honour]] in 1877. In 1888 he was awarded the last of the valuable [[Volta Prize]]s by the French government.


==Gramme machine as motor==
==Gramme machine as motor==
In 1873 he and [[Hippolyte Fontaine]] accidentally discovered that the device was reversible<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/212450/Hippolyte-Fontaine |title=Hippolyte Fontaine (French engineer) – Encyclopedia Britannica |publisher=Britannica.com |date= |accessdate=12 March 2014}}</ref> and would spin when connected to any DC power supply. The Gramme machine was the first usefully powerful [[electrical motor]] that was successful industrially. Before Gramme's inventions, electric motors attained only low power and were mainly used as toys or laboratory curiosities.
In 1873 he and [[Hippolyte Fontaine]] accidentally discovered that the device was reversible<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/212450/Hippolyte-Fontaine |title=Hippolyte Fontaine (French engineer) – Encyclopædia Britannica |publisher=Britannica.com |access-date=12 March 2014}}</ref> and would spin when connected to any DC power supply. The Gramme machine was the first usefully powerful [[electrical motor]] that was successful industrially. Before Gramme's inventions, electric motors attained only low power and were mainly used as toys or laboratory curiosities.


In 1875, [[Nikola Tesla]] observed a Gramme machine at the [[Graz University of Technology]]. He conceived the idea of using it for [[alternating current]] but was unable to develop the idea at this time.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fi.edu/learn/case-files/tesla/seeds.html |title=Nikola Tesla: Planting Seends |publisher=Fi.edu |date= |accessdate=12 March 2014}}</ref>
In 1875, [[Nikola Tesla]] observed a Gramme machine at the [[Graz University of Technology]]. He conceived the idea of using it for [[alternating current]] but was unable to develop the idea at this time.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fi.edu/learn/case-files/tesla/seeds.html |title=Nikola Tesla: Planting Seends |publisher=Fi.edu |access-date=12 March 2014}}</ref>


==Family==
==Family==
In 1857 he married Hortense Nysten who was a widow and mother of a daughter, Héloïse. Hortense died in 1890.<ref name="hyperpaysagedejehay1"/>
In 1857 he married Hortense Nysten who was a widow and mother of a daughter, Héloïse. Hortense died in 1890.<ref name="hyperpaysagedejehay1"/>

On 17 August 1891 he married Antonie Schentur in [[Bois-Colombes]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Tichy |first=Gottfried |date=2009 |title=Zénobe Gramme - Eine Spurensuche |trans-title=Zénobe Gramme - A search for clues |url=http://data.onb.ac.at/rec/AC07554083 |language=German |location=Schwanenstadt, Austria |publisher=Verlag Aichmayr |isbn=9783901722141}}</ref>


==Death and tributes==
==Death and tributes==
Gramme died at [[Bois-Colombes]], France, on 20 January 1901 and was buried in [[Père Lachaise Cemetery]].
Gramme died at [[Bois-Colombes]], France, on 20 January 1901 and was buried in [[Père Lachaise Cemetery]].


In the town where his second wife grew up and that Gramme visited every year for a few months, he donated the construction of an avenue to cool the underground water pipe built in 1898. It was named Gramme-Allee in 1902.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://goo.gl/maps/WexZ8UHo28ZAe8SY6 |title=google maps - Street name in Schwanenstadt, Austria}}</ref>
In the city of [[Liège (city)|Liège]] there is a graduate school of engineering, l'[[Institut Gramme]], named after him.


In 2005 he ended at the 23rd place in the election of ''[[Le plus grand Belge]]'' (The Greatest Belgian), the television show broadcast by the [[French (language)|French]]-speaking [[RTBF]] and based on the [[BBC]] show [[100 Greatest Britons]].
In the city of [[Liège]] there is a graduate school of engineering, l'[[Institut Gramme]], named after him.
In 2005 he ended up at the 23rd place in the election of ''[[Le plus grand Belge]]'' (The Greatest Belgian), the television show broadcast by the [[French (language)|French]]-speaking [[RTBF]] and based on the [[BBC]] show [[100 Greatest Britons]].


A958 ''Zenobe Gramme'', (1961–), a sailing ship of the [[Belgian Navy]] used for training, is named after him.
A958 ''Zenobe Gramme'', (1961–), a sailing ship of the [[Belgian Navy]] used for training, is named after him.

== Honours ==
* Commander in the [[Order of Leopold (Belgium)|Order of Leopold]].
* Officer in the [[Legion of Honour]].


==Picture gallery==
==Picture gallery==
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</gallery>
</gallery>


== References ==
==See also==
{{commons|Zénobe Gramme}}
{{reflist}}

==Related pages==
* [[Antonio Pacinotti]]
* [[Antonio Pacinotti]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}


==External links==
==External links==
*{{Commons category-inline}}
* [[:fr:Zénobe Gramme|French Wikipedia article]]


{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2015}}
{{Electric machines}}

{{Authority control}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gramme, Zenobe}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gramme, Zenobe}}
[[Category:1826 births]]
[[Category:1826 births]]
[[Category:1901 deaths]]
[[Category:1901 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Liège (province)]]
[[Category:People from Liège Province]]
[[Category:Belgian engineers]]
[[Category:19th-century Belgian engineers]]
[[Category:Belgian inventors]]
[[Category:19th-century Belgian inventors]]
[[Category:Belgian physicists]]
[[Category:Belgian physicists]]
[[Category:Electrical engineers]]
[[Category:Belgian electrical engineers]]
[[Category:Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery]]
[[Category:Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery]]
[[Category:Walloon people]]


{{Belgium-engineer-stub}}
{{physicist-stub}}

Latest revision as of 15:30, 9 December 2023

Zénobe Gramme
Zénobe Gramme by Nadar, 1893
Born(1826-04-04)4 April 1826
Jehay-Bodegnée, Belgium
Died20 January 1901(1901-01-20) (aged 74)
Bois-Colombes, France
Resting placePère Lachaise Cemetery
Occupationelectrical engineer
Known forGramme dynamo

Zénobe Théophile Gramme (French pronunciation: [zenɔb teɔfil ɡʁam]; 4 April 1826 – 20 January 1901) was a Belgian electrical engineer. He was born at Jehay-Bodegnée on 4 April 1826, the sixth child of Mathieu-Joseph Gramme,[1] and died at Bois-Colombes on 20 January 1901. He invented the Gramme machine, a type of direct current dynamo capable of generating smoother (less AC) and much higher voltages than the dynamos known to that point.

Career[edit]

Gramme was poorly educated and semi-literate throughout his life. His talent was in handicraft and when he left school he became a joiner. After moving to Paris he took a job as a model maker at a company that manufactured electrical equipment and there became interested in technology.[2]

Having built an improved dynamo, Gramme, in association with Hippolyte Fontaine, opened a factory to develop the device. The business, called Société des Machines Magnéto-Électriques Gramme, manufactured the Gramme dynamo, Gramme ring, Gramme armature and other devices. In 1873 a Gramme dynamo was exhibited at the Vienna exhibition.

He was made an officer of the National Order of the Legion of Honour in 1877. In 1888 he was awarded the last of the valuable Volta Prizes by the French government.

Gramme machine as motor[edit]

In 1873 he and Hippolyte Fontaine accidentally discovered that the device was reversible[3] and would spin when connected to any DC power supply. The Gramme machine was the first usefully powerful electrical motor that was successful industrially. Before Gramme's inventions, electric motors attained only low power and were mainly used as toys or laboratory curiosities.

In 1875, Nikola Tesla observed a Gramme machine at the Graz University of Technology. He conceived the idea of using it for alternating current but was unable to develop the idea at this time.[4]

Family[edit]

In 1857 he married Hortense Nysten who was a widow and mother of a daughter, Héloïse. Hortense died in 1890.[1]

On 17 August 1891 he married Antonie Schentur in Bois-Colombes.[5]

Death and tributes[edit]

Gramme died at Bois-Colombes, France, on 20 January 1901 and was buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery.

In the town where his second wife grew up and that Gramme visited every year for a few months, he donated the construction of an avenue to cool the underground water pipe built in 1898. It was named Gramme-Allee in 1902.[6]

In the city of Liège there is a graduate school of engineering, l'Institut Gramme, named after him.

In 2005 he ended up at the 23rd place in the election of Le plus grand Belge (The Greatest Belgian), the television show broadcast by the French-speaking RTBF and based on the BBC show 100 Greatest Britons.

A958 Zenobe Gramme, (1961–), a sailing ship of the Belgian Navy used for training, is named after him.

Honours[edit]

Picture gallery[edit]

  • Zénobe Gramme, by Mathurin Moreau
    Zénobe Gramme, by Mathurin Moreau
  • Grave at Cemetery Père-Lachaise
    Grave at Cemetery Père-Lachaise
  • Gramme machine
    Gramme machine

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Zénobe Gramme : un enfant du pays". Hyperpaysagedejehay.be. 8 June 2008. Retrieved 12 March 2014.
  2. ^ "Zénobe Théophile Gramme Biography (1826-1901)". How products are made. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
  3. ^ "Hippolyte Fontaine (French engineer) – Encyclopædia Britannica". Britannica.com. Retrieved 12 March 2014.
  4. ^ "Nikola Tesla: Planting Seends". Fi.edu. Retrieved 12 March 2014.
  5. ^ Tichy, Gottfried (2009). Zénobe Gramme - Eine Spurensuche [Zénobe Gramme - A search for clues] (in German). Schwanenstadt, Austria: Verlag Aichmayr. ISBN 9783901722141.
  6. ^ "google maps - Street name in Schwanenstadt, Austria".

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Zénobe_Gramme&oldid=1189078550"