The Most Famous
INVENTORS from Latvia
This page contains a list of the greatest Latvian Inventors. The pantheon dataset contains 426 Inventors, 2 of which were born in Latvia. This makes Latvia the birth place of the 25th most number of Inventors behind South Africa, and Brazil.
Top 3
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Latvian Inventors of all time. This list of famous Latvian Inventors is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.
1. Friedrich Zander (1887 - 1933)
With an HPI of 56.26, Friedrich Zander is the most famous Latvian Inventor. His biography has been translated into 35 different languages on wikipedia.
Georg Arthur Constantin Friedrich Zander (also Tsander, Russian: Фри́дрих Арту́рович Ца́ндер, tr. Fridrikh Arturovich Tsander; Latvian: Frīdrihs Canders, 23 August [O.S. 11 August] 1887 – 28 March 1933), was a Baltic German pioneer of rocketry and spaceflight in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. He designed the first liquid-fueled rocket to be launched in the Soviet Union, GIRD-X, and made many important theoretical contributions to the road to space.
2. Jacob W. Davis (1831 - 1908)
With an HPI of 51.71, Jacob W. Davis is the 2nd most famous Latvian Inventor. His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.
Jacob William Davis (born Jākobs Jufess; Russian: Якоб Яковлевич Юфес, May 14, 1831 – January 20, 1908) was a Russian-American tailor of Latvian Jewish origin who is credited with inventing modern jeans. Growing up in Russian Empire, he emigrated to the United States as a young man and spent some time in Canada as well. He invented jeans by using sturdy cloth and rivets to strengthen weak points in the seams, and partnered with Levi Strauss to mass-produce them.
3. Walter Zapp (1905 - 2003)
With an HPI of 50.36, Walter Zapp is the 3rd most famous Latvian Inventor. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.
Walter Zapp (Latvian: Valters Caps; 4 September [O.S. 22 August] 1905 – 17 July 2003) was a Baltic German inventor. His best-known creation was the Minox subminiature camera. Over the course of his life, he was granted over 60 patents.
People
Pantheon has 3 people classified as Latvian inventors born between 1831 and 1905. Of these 3, none of them are still alive today. The most famous deceased Latvian inventors include Friedrich Zander, Jacob W. Davis, and Walter Zapp. As of April 2024, 1 new Latvian inventors have been added to Pantheon including Walter Zapp.
Deceased Latvian Inventors
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Friedrich Zander
1887 - 1933
HPI: 56.26
Jacob W. Davis
1831 - 1908
HPI: 51.71
Walter Zapp
1905 - 2003
HPI: 50.36
Newly Added Latvian Inventors (2024)
Go to all RankingsOverlapping Lives
Which Inventors were alive at the same time? This visualization shows the lifespans of the 3 most globally memorable Inventors since 1700.
