The Most Famous
INVENTORS from Slovakia
Top 5
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Slovak Inventors of all time. This list of famous Slovak Inventors is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.
1. Wolfgang von Kempelen (1734 - 1804)
With an HPI of 62.15, Wolfgang von Kempelen is the most famous Slovak Inventor. His biography has been translated into 28 different languages on wikipedia.
Johann Wolfgang Ritter von Kempelen de Pázmánd (Hungarian: Kempelen Farkas; 23 January 1734 – 26 March 1804) was a Hungarian author and inventor, known for his chess-playing "automaton" hoax The Turk and for his speaking machine.
2. Slavoljub Eduard Penkala (1871 - 1922)
With an HPI of 53.95, Slavoljub Eduard Penkala is the 2nd most famous Slovak Inventor. Her biography has been translated into 19 different languages.
Slavoljub Eduard Penkala (Croatian pronunciation: [slâʋɔʎuːb ɛ̂duard pɛŋkǎːla]; 20 April 1871 – 5 February 1922) was a Croatian engineer and inventor.
3. Aurel Stodola (1859 - 1942)
With an HPI of 53.50, Aurel Stodola is the 3rd most famous Slovak Inventor. His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.
Aurel Boleslav Stodola (11 May 1859 – 25 December 1942) was a Slovak engineer, physicist, and inventor. He was a pioneer in the area of technical thermodynamics and its applications and published his book Die Dampfturbine (the steam turbine) in 1903. In addition to the thermodynamic issues involved in turbine design the book discussed aspects of fluid flow, vibration, stress analysis of plates, shells and rotating discs and stress concentrations at holes and fillets. Stodola was a professor of mechanical engineering at the Swiss Polytechnical Institute (now ETH) in Zurich. He maintained friendly contact with Albert Einstein. In 1892, Stodola founded the Laboratory for Energy Conversion.
4. Jozef Murgaš (1864 - 1929)
With an HPI of 47.38, Jozef Murgaš is the 4th most famous Slovak Inventor. His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.
Jozef Murgaš (English Joseph Murgas) (17 February 1864 – 11 May 1929) was a Slovak inventor, architect, botanist, painter and Roman Catholic priest. He contributed to radio development, which at the time was commonly known as "wireless telegraphy". Murgaš was nicknamed the Radio Priest and deemed a Renaissance man.
5. Kálmán Tihanyi (1897 - 1947)
With an HPI of 45.18, Kálmán Tihanyi is the 5th most famous Slovak Inventor. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.
Kálmán Tihanyi (Hungarian: [ˈkaːlmaːn ˈtihɒɲi]), or in English language technical literature often mentioned as Coloman Tihanyi or Koloman Tihanyi (28 April 1897 – 26 February 1947) was a Hungarian physicist, electrical engineer and inventor. One of the early pioneers of electronic television, he made significant contributions to the development of cathode ray tubes (CRTs), which were bought and further developed by the Radio Corporation of America (later RCA), and German companies Loewe and Fernseh AG. He invented and designed the world's first automatic pilotless aircraft in Great Britain. He is also known for the invention of the first infrared video camera in 1929, and coined the first flat panel plasma display in 1936. His Radioskop patent was recognized as a Document of Universal Significance by the UNESCO, and thus became part of the Memory of the World Programme on September 4, 2001.
People
Pantheon has 5 people classified as Slovak inventors born between 1734 and 1897. Of these 5, none of them are still alive today. The most famous deceased Slovak inventors include Wolfgang von Kempelen, Slavoljub Eduard Penkala, and Aurel Stodola. As of April 2024, 1 new Slovak inventors have been added to Pantheon including Kálmán Tihanyi.
Deceased Slovak Inventors
Go to all Rankings
Wolfgang von Kempelen
1734 - 1804
HPI: 62.15
Slavoljub Eduard Penkala
1871 - 1922
HPI: 53.95
Aurel Stodola
1859 - 1942
HPI: 53.50
Jozef Murgaš
1864 - 1929
HPI: 47.38
Kálmán Tihanyi
1897 - 1947
HPI: 45.18
Newly Added Slovak Inventors (2024)
Go to all RankingsOverlapping Lives
Which Inventors were alive at the same time? This visualization shows the lifespans of the 5 most globally memorable Inventors since 1700.
