Dimitri Rebikoff
Dimitri Rebikoff (born March 23, 1921 in Paris , † August 1, 1997 in Florida ) was a pioneer in the development of underwater technology, especially technology for documenting the underwater world.
Life
Dimitri Rebikoff, who was born in Paris in 1921, showed extraordinary innovative skills from an early age. During his labor service in Germany from 1943 to 1945, various companies owed valuable new developments to his technical knowledge.
After the end of the war and studying at the Sorbonne , Rebikoff opened a company in Lausanne and designed various devices that were patented in his name. These included a color temperature meter (Rebikoff colorimeter ) and the first portable electronic flash unit , which with exposure times of up to a millionth of a second made it possible, for example, to record a pistol bullet at the moment of shooting and revolutionized photo technology .
After his marriage to the photographer Ada Niggeler (1913–2011), Dimitri and Ada turned to diving and the development of underwater equipment in 1951 in Cannes, France .
Innovations such as the first underwater electronic flash unit, stereo photo and 16 mm film cameras made it possible to record the marine fauna and flora in a quality that was previously unknown. 1952 followed the construction of the "Torpille", the first diving underwater vehicle in the world. This became the forerunner of the well-known "chien plongeur", the world's first remote-controlled vehicle from the surface of the water.
Another milestone on the inventor's path was the development and construction of the “Pegasus” diving transporter in 1953, which became an international success. A correction lens developed in collaboration with Professors Alexandre Ivanoff , Yves Le Grand (1908–1986) and Pierre Cuvier was built into all Rebikoff cameras from 1954 and made it possible for the first time to record in photogrammetry quality.
In 1959 the Rebikoffs moved to the USA. Dimitri Rebikoff became chief engineer and consultant at companies such as Loral and Chicago Bridge and, with the help of new technologies, designed products that were manufactured in series. This includes in particular the construction of television, high-speed and deep-sea cameras. "Sea Inspector" and "Pegasus", equipped with cameras, have been successfully used by oil companies , the US Navy and scientific institutions such as B. the Navy Oceanographic Office, and used for film productions. In the 1980s, Dimitri Rebikoff founded the Institute of Marine Technology, a nonprofit research institution in Fort Lauderdale , Florida .
Dimitri Rebikoff died in Florida in 1997.
Web links
- Dimitri Rebikoff on the homepage of the Rebikoff-Niggeler Foundation
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Rebikoff, Dimitri |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | French pioneer in the development of underwater technology |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 23, 1921 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Paris |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 1997 |
| Place of death | Florida |