Antonio Meucci
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Image:300px-Antonio Meucci.jpg Antonio Santi Giuseppe Meucci (April 13, 1808–October 18, 1896) was an Italian inventor. In all the world, he is recognized as the inventor of the telephone.Template:Citation needed Until recently, in the United States attributed this to Alexander Graham Bell. However, in June 2002, the United States House of Representatives passed a bill that "expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the life and achievements of Antonio Meucci should be recognized, and his work in the invention of the telephone should be acknowledged."
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Biography
Meucci was born in San Frediano, a borough of Florence, Italy. He studied chemical and mechanical engineering at the Florence Academy of Fine Arts and later worked in theatres as a stage technician. He married costume designer Ester Mochi on August 7, 1834. He was alleged to be part of a conspiracy involving the Italian unification movement in 1833–1834, and was imprisoned for three months.
In October 1835, Meucci and his wife left Florence, never to return. They emigrated to the Americas, stopping first in Cuba, where Meucci accepted a job at Gran Teatro de Tacón in Havana. There Meucci had developed a popular method of using electric shocks to treat illness. While providing a treatment to a friend, Meucci reportedly heard his friend's scream through the piece of copper wire that was between them.
In 1850, Meucci and his wife immigrated to the United States, settling in the Clifton area of Staten Island, New York, where he would live for the remainder of his life.
Meucci constructed a form of telephone circa 1854Template:Citation needed as a way to connect his second-floor bedroom to his basement laboratory, as his wife was an invalid suffering from rheumatism. Before then he had constructed a kind of pipe-telephone that transported sound through a pipe, as a way to communicate between the stage and control room at the theatre.
Though his assets had been substantial, they were quickly used up in the United States. Not only was Meucci helping his countrymen to reach America, but there was also an expensive accident in one of his laboratories. His private finances dwindled so that he soon had to live on public funds and by depending on his friends. It has also been said that his wife sold some of his inventions, including the telephone, to raise cash.
Patents
Besides electric voice transferral, he invented and patented many devices that were based on chemical and mechanical processes.
Recognition
For more than a century, everywhere but in Italy, Alexander Graham Bell has been considered the inventor of the telephone.Template:Citation needed However, Meucci was recognized by the US House of Representatives, in House Resolution 269, dated 11 June 2002, as stated, "Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the life and achievements of Antonio Meucci should be recognized, and his work in the invention of the telephone should be acknowledged". The Parliament of Canada retaliated by passing a resolution recognizing Canadian immigrant Alexander Graham Bell as the only inventor of the telephone. [1] [2]
Garibaldi-Meucci Museum
The Order of the Sons of Italy in America maintains a Garibaldi-Meucci Museum in Staten Island. The museum is located in a house that was built in 1840, purchased by Meucci in 1850, and rented to Giuseppe Garibaldi from 1850 to 1854. Exhibits include Meucci’s models and drawing and pictures relating to his life.
See also
Further reading
- Meucci, The Forgotten Genius, By Tiziano Thomas Dossena, Bridge Apulia USA 1999
- An excellent history of Meucci with photos and copies of his diagrams and instruments
- http://www.esanet.it/chez_basilio/havana2.htm
- Gerry Vassilatos Lost Science (ISBN 0945685254, possible excerpt, review)
- Scientific American Supplement No. 520, December 19, 1885
- Summary and status of Resolution 269
- The Garibaldi-Meucci Museum
- The Garibaldi-Meucci Museum (Staten Island site)ar:أنطونيو ميوتشي
ca:Antonio Meucci da:Antonio Meucci de:Antonio Meucci es:Antonio Meucci fr:Antonio Meucci hr:Antonio Meucci id:Antonio Meucci it:Antonio Meucci he:אנטוניו מאוצ'י nl:Antonio Meucci ja:アントニオ・メウッチ pt:Antonio Meucci simple:Antonio Meucci fi:Antonio Meucci sv:Antonio Meucci