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Zénobe Gramme | |
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 Zénobe Gramme byNadar, 1893 | |
| Born | (1826-04-04)4 April 1826 Jehay-Bodegnée, Belgium |
| Died | 20 January 1901(1901-01-20) (aged 74) Bois-Colombes, France |
| Resting place | Père Lachaise Cemetery |
| Occupation | electrical engineer |
| Known for | Gramme dynamo |
| Awards | Volta Prize (1888) |
Zénobe Théophile Gramme (French pronunciation:[zenɔbteɔfilɡʁam]; 4 April 1826 – 20 January 1901) was a Belgianelectrical engineer. He was born atJehay-Bodegnée on 4 April 1826, the sixth child of Mathieu-Joseph Gramme,[1] and died atBois-Colombes on 20 January 1901. He invented theGramme machine, a type ofdirect currentdynamo capable of generating smoother (lessAC) and much higher voltages than the dynamos known to that point.
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 withHippolyte 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 theLegion of Honour in 1877. In 1888 he was awarded the last of the valuableVolta Prizes by the French government.
In 1873 he andHippolyte 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 powerfulelectrical 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 theGraz University of Technology. He conceived the idea of using it foralternating current but was unable to develop the idea at this time.[4]
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 inBois-Colombes.[5]
Gramme died atBois-Colombes, France, on 20 January 1901 and was buried inPère 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 ofLiège 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 ofLe plus grand Belge (The Greatest Belgian), the television show broadcast by theFrench-speakingRTBF and based on theBBC show100 Greatest Britons.
A958Zenobe Gramme, (1961–), a sailing ship of theBelgian Navy used for training, is named after him.
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