Great inventions of Pavel Nikolaevich Yablochkov. Pavel Nikolaevich Yablochkov - inventor of the arc lamp

P. N. Yablochkov (from a photograph of the 1890s)
Coat of arms of the Yablochkovs
Birth:	September 2 (September 14)(1847-09-14 ) Serdobsky Uyezd, Saratov Governorate, Russian Empire
Death:	March 19 (March 31) ( 1894-03-31 ) (46 years old) Saratov, Russian Empire
Burial place:	With. Boot of Rtishchevsky district
Genus:	Yablochkovs
Education:	Nikolaev Engineering School
Activity:	electrical engineer, inventor
Military service
Years of service:	1866-1867, 1869-1872
Type of troops:	engineering troops
Rank:	lieutenant
Job title:	battalion adjutant
Commanded:	head of the galvanizing team
Part:	5th Engineer Battalion, 5th Engineer Regiment
Scientific activities
Scientific field:	electrical engineering
Known as:	inventor of the electric candle named after him, as well as other inventions that made a great contribution to the development of electrical engineering in the world
Autograph:
Family
Father:	Nikolai Pavlovich
Mother:	Elizaveta Petrovna (ur. Zemshchininova)
Spouse:	Lyubov Ilyinichna Nikitina (1849-1887) Maria Nikolaevna Albova
Children:	Natalia (1871-1886) Boris (1872-1903) Alexandra (1874-1888) Andrey (1873-1921) Plato
Awards

Pavel Nikolaevich Yablochkov(September 2 (14), 1847, Serdobsky district, Saratov province - March 19 (31), 1894, Saratov) - Russian electrical engineer, military engineer, inventor and entrepreneur. He is known for the development of the arc lamp (which went down in history under the name “Yablochkov candle”) and other inventions in the field of electrical engineering.

Biography

Childhood and adolescence

Elizaveta Petrovna Yablochkova (Zemshchininova), 1870s

Nikolai Pavlovich Yablochkov, con. 1870s

Pavel Yablochkov was born on September 2 (14), 1847 in Serdobsky district, in the family of an impoverished small nobleman who came from an old Russian family. The Yablochkov family was cultured and educated. The father of the future inventor, Nikolai Pavlovich, studied in the Naval Cadet Corps in his youth, but due to illness he was dismissed from service and awarded the civilian rank of XIV class (provincial secretary). Pavel's mother, Elizaveta Petrovna (ur. Zemshchininova), managed the household of a large family. She was distinguished by her imperious character and, according to contemporaries, she held the entire family “in her hands.”

Since childhood, Pavel loved to design. He invented a goniometer device for land surveying, which the peasants of Petropavlovka, Bayki, Soglasov and other surrounding villages used during land redistribution; a device for measuring the distance traveled by a cart - a prototype of modern odometers.

In the summer of 1858 (another date is also indicated - the end of 1859), at the insistence of his wife, N.P. Yablochkov took his son to the Saratov 1st Men's Gymnasium, where, after successful exams, Pavel was immediately enrolled in the second grade. However, at the end of November 1862, Nikolai Pavlovich recalled his son from the 5th grade of the gymnasium and took him home to Petropavlovka. The difficult financial situation of the family played no small role in this. It was decided to enroll Pavel in the Nikolaev Military Engineering School (now the Military Engineering and Technical University) in St. Petersburg. But Pavel did not have the necessary knowledge to enter there. Therefore, for several months he studied at a private preparatory boarding school, which was maintained by the military engineer Ts. A. Cui. Caesar Antonovich had a great influence on Yablochkov and aroused the future inventor’s interest in science. Their acquaintance continued until the death of the scientist.

Study and military service

On September 30, 1863, having brilliantly passed the difficult entrance exam, Pavel Nikolaevich was enrolled in the Nikolaev School, in the junior conductor class. A strict daily routine and adherence to military discipline brought certain benefits: Pavel became physically stronger and received military training. On August 8, 1866, Yablochkov graduated from college in the first category. By the highest order, he was promoted to second lieutenant and assigned to serve in the 5th engineer battalion, stationed in the Kyiv fortress. His parents dreamed of seeing him as an officer, but Pavel Nikolaevich himself was not attracted to a military career, and was even burdened. Arriving at the battalion on October 2, 1866, Yablochkov, having served for a little over a year, citing illness, retired from military service on December 9, 1867, receiving the rank of lieutenant.

On January 18, 1869, by the highest order, Yablochkov was again assigned to military service in the 5th engineer battalion as a second lieutenant. He was immediately sent to the Officer Galvanic Classes in Kronstadt, at that time it was the only school in Russia that trained military specialists in the field of electrical engineering. There P. N. Yablochkov became acquainted with the latest achievements in the field of study and technical application of electric current, especially in mining, and thoroughly improved his theoretical and practical electrical training. Eight months later, after completing galvanic classes, Pavel Nikolaevich was appointed head of the galvanic team of the 5th engineer battalion. Yablochkov arrived at his place of service on September 6, 1869; a few days later, on September 22, he was appointed head of weapons in the battalion and remained in this position until April 1, 1870. On April 15, Pavel Nikolaevich was confirmed as a battalion adjutant, whose duties were limited to some military-economic functions and reporting. On July 24, 1871, Yablochkov was again promoted to lieutenant, and on September 11, 1872, he retired to the reserve, parting with the army forever.

Shortly before leaving Kyiv, Pavel Yablochkov married Lyubov Ilyinichna Nikitina.

Beginning of inventive activity

P. N. Yablochkov during his years of work in Moscow (1872)

Having retired to the reserve, P. N. Yablochkov entered the Department of the Moscow-Kursk Railway as head of the telegraph service (according to other sources, assistant head of the telegraph service). Already at the beginning of his service on the railway, P. N. Yablochkov made his first invention: he created a “black-writing telegraph apparatus.” Unfortunately, the details of this invention have not reached us.

Yablochkov was a member of the circle of electricians-inventors and electrical engineering enthusiasts at the Moscow Polytechnic Museum. Here he learned about A. N. Lodygin’s experiments in lighting streets and rooms with electric lamps, after which he decided to start improving the arc lamps that existed at that time. He began his inventive activity with an attempt to improve the Foucault spring regulator, the most common at that time. The regulator was very complex, operated with the help of three springs and required constant attention.

In the spring of 1874, Pavel Nikolaevich had the opportunity to practically use an electric arc for lighting. A government train was supposed to travel from Moscow to Crimea. For traffic safety purposes, the administration of the Moscow-Kursk road decided to illuminate the railway track for this train at night and turned to Yablochkov as an engineer interested in electric lighting. He willingly agreed. For the first time in the history of railway transport, a searchlight with an arc lamp - a Foucault regulator - was installed on a steam locomotive. Yablochkov, standing on the front platform of the locomotive, changed the coals and tightened the regulator; and when the locomotive was changed, Pavel Nikolaevich dragged his searchlight and wires from one locomotive to another and strengthened them. This continued all the way, and although the experiment was a success, he once again convinced Yablochkov that this method of electric lighting could not be widely used and the controller needed to be simplified.

After leaving telegraph service in 1874, Yablochkov opened a workshop of physical instruments in Moscow. According to the memoirs of one of his contemporaries:

Together with the experienced electrical engineer N. G. Glukhov, Yablochkov worked in the workshop to improve batteries and dynamos, and conducted experiments on illuminating a large area with a huge spotlight. In the workshop, Yablochkov managed to create an electromagnet of an original design. He used a winding made of copper tape, placing it on edge in relation to the core. This was his first invention, and here Pavel Nikolaevich carried out work on improving arc lamps.

Along with experiments to improve electromagnets and arc lamps, Yablochkov and Glukhov attached great importance to the electrolysis of solutions of table salt. An insignificant fact in itself played a big role in the further inventive fate of P. N. Yablochkov. In 1875, during one of the many electrolysis experiments, parallel coals immersed in an electrolytic bath accidentally touched each other. Immediately an electric arc flashed between them, illuminating the walls of the laboratory with bright light for a short moment. It was at these moments that Pavel Nikolaevich had the idea of ​​​​a more advanced design of an arc lamp (without an interelectrode distance regulator) - the future “Yablochkov candle”.

The beginning of Yablochkov’s scientific and inventive activity did not go unnoticed. At a meeting of the Imperial Society of Lovers of Natural History, Anthropology and Ethnography, which was attached to Moscow University, which took place on September 29, 1874, Pavel Nikolaevich was unanimously elected to full membership of this Society.

World recognition

"Yablochkov's Candle"

Main article: Yablochkov candle.

In October 1875, having sent his wife and children to the Saratov province, to live with his parents, Yablochkov went abroad with the goal of showing his inventions and achievements of Russian electrical engineering in the United States at the World Exhibition in Philadelphia, and at the same time becoming familiar with the development of electrical engineering in other countries. However, financial affairs in the Moscow workshop were completely upset, so that Pavel Nikolaevich only had enough money to get to Paris. Here he became interested in the workshops of physical instruments of Sorbonne professor Antoine Breguet (1851-1882), whose devices Pavel Nikolaevich was familiar with from his work when he was the head of the telegraph in Moscow. A. Breguet received the Russian engineer very kindly and offered him a place in his company. From the end of 1875, Yablochkov began working in the Breguet workshops and took up those orders to which the company attracted him. However, he was haunted by the idea of ​​​​creating an arc lamp without a regulator.

By the beginning of the spring of 1876, Yablochkov completed the development of the design of an electric candle and on March 23 of the same year received a French patent for it No. 112024. Yablochkov’s candle turned out to be simpler, more convenient and cheaper to operate than Lodygin’s coal lamp; it had neither mechanisms nor springs . The candle consisted of two rods separated by an insulating kaolin gasket. Each of the rods was clamped into a separate terminal of the candlestick. An arc discharge was ignited at the upper ends, and the arc flame shone brightly, gradually burning the coals and vaporizing the insulating material. Yablochkov had to work a lot on choosing a suitable insulating substance and on methods for obtaining suitable coals. Later, he tried to change the color of electric light by adding various metal salts to the evaporating partition between the coals.

Not a single invention in the field of electrical engineering has received such rapid and widespread distribution as Yablochkov’s candles. This was a true triumph of the Russian engineer.

Other inventions

USSR postage stamp dedicated to P. N. Yablochkov, 1951

Facsimile of the RTO letter about awarding P. N. Yablochkov with the Society’s medal (1879)

Decree on awarding P. N. Yablochkov the Order of the Legion of Honor (1882)

P. N. Yablochkov in the laboratory

During his years in France, Pavel Nikolaevich worked not only on the invention and improvement of the electric candle, but also on solving other practical problems. In the first year and a half alone - from March 1876 to October 1877 - he gave humanity a number of other outstanding inventions and discoveries. P. N. Yablochkov designed the first alternating current generator, which, unlike direct current, ensured uniform burning of carbon rods in the absence of a regulator, was the first to use alternating current for industrial purposes, and created an alternating current transformer (November 30, 1876, date of receipt of the patent, considered to be the birth date of the first transformer), a flat-wound electromagnet and the first use of static capacitors in an alternating current circuit. Discoveries and inventions allowed Yablochkov to be the first in the world to create a system for “crushing” electric light, that is, powering a large number of candles from one current generator, based on the use of alternating current, transformers and capacitors.

On April 21, 1876, P. N. Yablochkov was elected a full member of the French Physical Society. He became the second Russian citizen elected as a member of this Society. The notice dated April 22 stated:

Dear Sir! I have the honor to inform you that you were elected to membership in the French Physical Society at the meeting of April 21st. You may be sure that you will find in society the cordial comradeship which you have a right to expect, and we, for our part, have no doubt that you will exert all your efforts to promote our common success. I consider it my duty, in particular, to ask you to inform people interested in the progress of physics about our work and to bring them closer to us. I leave with the best feelings Your very loyal colleague, Chief Secretary D'Almeida.

In 1878, Yablochkov returned to Russia to deal with the problem of the spread of electric lighting. Soon after the inventor’s arrival in St. Petersburg, the joint-stock company “Partnership of Electric Lighting and Manufacturing of Electrical Machines and Apparatuses P. N. Yablochkov the Inventor and Co.” was established, which opened its electrical plant on the Obvodny Canal.

On April 14, 1879, P. N. Yablochkov was awarded a personalized medal of the Imperial Russian Technical Society (RTO). The award notice stated:

Imperial Russian Technical Society To full member of the Imperial Russian Technical Society Pavel Nikolaevich Yablochkov: Taking into account that you, through your labors and persistent long-term research and experiments, were the first to achieve a satisfactory practical solution to the issue of electric lighting, the general meeting of Messrs. members of the Imperial Russian Technical Society at a meeting on April 14 of this year, according to the proposal of the Society’s Council, awarded you a medal with the inscription “Worthy Pavel Nikolaevich Yablochkov.” Considering it a pleasant duty to inform you, Dear Sir, about this resolution of the General Assembly, the Council of the Society has the honor to forward to you a medal made by order of it. Chairman of the Imperial Russian Technical Society Pyotr Kochubey. Secretary Lvov.

On January 30, 1880, the first constituent meeting of the Electrical Engineering (VI) Department of the RTO was held in St. Petersburg, at which P. N. Yablochkov was elected deputy chairman (“chairman candidate”). On the initiative of P. N. Yablochkov, V. N. Chikolev, D. A. Lachinov and A. N. Lodygin, one of the oldest Russian technical magazines, Electricity, was founded in 1880.

In the same 1880, Yablochkov moved to Paris, where he began preparing to participate in the first International Electrotechnical Exhibition, which opened on August 1, 1881. To organize an exhibition stand dedicated to his inventions, Yablochkov called some of his company’s employees to Paris. Among them was the Russian inventor, creator of electric arc welding Nikolai Nikolaevich Benardos, whom Yablochkov met back in 1876. To prepare Yablochkov’s exposition, the electrical engineering experimental laboratory at the journal “Bulletin de la Société internationale des électriciens” (Bulletin of the International Society of Electricians) was used.

On June 21, 1881, P. N. Yablochkov was elected to the Organizing Committee of the First International Congress of Electricians (now the World Electrotechnical Congress), which was held on the initiative and under the chairmanship of the Minister of Posts and Telegraphs of France A. Cocherie from September 15 to October 5 of the same year in Paris at the Elysee Palace. For participation in the exhibition and congress, Yablochkov was awarded the French Order of the Legion of Honor.

Last years of life

p. Rtishchevsky. The former Eshliman estate, where P. N. Yablochkov lived until 1893 (built in 1870)

Saratov. Former “Central Rooms” of Ochkin, where P. N. Yablochkov lived from 1893 to 1894

The International Electrotechnical Exhibition held in Paris showed that Yablochkov’s candle and his lighting system began to lose their importance. Beginning in 1882, Pavel Nikolaevich completely switched to creating a powerful and economical chemical current source. In a number of schemes for chemical current sources, Yablochkov was the first to propose wooden separators to separate the cathode and anode spaces. Subsequently, such separators found wide application in the designs of lead-acid batteries.

On May 2, 1882, P. N. Yablochkov received French patent No. 148737 for the so-called “cliptic” dynamo, which could be used as an electric motor and as an electricity generator.

Work with chemical current sources turned out to be not only poorly studied, but also life-threatening. While conducting experiments with chlorine, Pavel Nikolaevich burned the mucous membrane of his lungs and since then began to choke, and his legs began to swell. In 1883, due to illness, Yablochkov was forced to interrupt his work; He was able to continue his experiments only in 1884. From that time until 1889, he continued to work on electric motors and chemical current sources.

In 1889, Yablochkov left scientific research because he took an active part in organizing the Russian Pavilion at the World Exhibition in Paris. He was chairman of the Committee of Russian Exhibitors in Paris and a member of the jury for class XV (precision mechanics, scientific instruments). Yablochkov did a great job, essentially creating the Russian pavilion.

In the same year, Pavel Nikolaevich’s merits in the field of electrical engineering were noted by the Imperial Society of Lovers of Natural History, Anthropology and Ethnography. At a meeting held on October 7, 1889, Yablochkov was elected an honorary member of this society.

All of P. N. Yablochkov’s activities in Paris took place in the intervals between trips to Russia. In the early 1890s, the scientist decided to finally return to his homeland. However, by that time Yablochkov was in an extremely difficult financial situation. He bought out all his foreign patents No. 112024, 115703 and 120684, paying one million francs for them and therefore did not have the opportunity to move to Russia. This move was accomplished only in the second half of 1893 thanks to the financial assistance of Pavel Nikolaevich’s uncle, Dmitry Pavlovich Yablochkov (1819-1900).

In St. Petersburg, P. N. Yablochkov again became very ill. Fatigue and the consequences of the explosion of a sodium battery in 1884, where he almost died, took their toll, and after the 1889 exhibition, Yablochkov suffered two strokes. For some time, Yablochkov lived in Serdobsk in a small house on Malaya Peschanaya Street (now Kirova Street). Having waited for his second wife Maria Nikolaevna and son Plato to arrive from Paris, Pavel Nikolaevich went with them to Saratov.

From Saratov, the Yablochkovs moved to Atkarsky district, where, near the village of Koleno, the small estate of Dvoenki, inherited by Pavel Nikolaevich, was located. After staying there for a short time, the Yablochkovs headed to Serdobsky district to settle in their “father’s house” and then go to the Caucasus. However, the parental house in the village of Petropavlovka no longer existed; several years before the scientist arrived here, it burned down. I had to settle with my younger sister Ekaterina (d. 1916) and her husband Mikhail Ashliman, whose estate was located near the village of Ivanovka, Sapozhkovsky volost.

Pavel Nikolaevich intended to engage in scientific research here, but very soon realized that it was impossible to do science in the village. This forced the Yablochkovs to move to Saratov again at the beginning of winter (apparently in November 1893). They settled in Ochkin’s “Central Rooms” (now residential building No. 35 on the corner of M. Gorky and Yablochkov streets), on the second floor. His room quickly turned into a study where the scientist, mostly at night, when no one distracted him, worked on drawings for electric lighting in Saratov. Yablochkov’s health deteriorated every day: his heart became weaker, his breathing became difficult. Heart disease led to dropsy, my legs were swollen and could hardly move.

On March 19 (31), 1894 at 6 o’clock in the morning P. N. Yablochkov died. On March 21, Pavel Nikolaevich’s body was transported for funeral to the village of Sapozhok. On March 23, he was buried on the outskirts of the village, in the fence of the Archangel Michael Church in the family crypt.

Actual record of the death of Pavel Nikolaevich Yablochkov

Family

Pavel Nikolaevich Yablochkov was married twice. He met his first wife, Lyubov Ilyinichna Nikitina (1849-1887), in Kyiv. He married when he was very young and against the wishes of his family. This marriage produced four children: Natalya (1871-1886); Boris (1872-1903) - engineer-inventor, was fond of aeronautics, worked on developing new powerful explosives and ammunition, died of tuberculosis; Alexandra (1874-1888) and Andrey (1873-1921) - agronomist-gardener, after graduating from the cadet corps, lived on his estate in the village, which went to the children after the death of Pavel Nikolaevich’s parents, was found murdered on the territory of the orchard, the circumstances of his death are not known installed. After the divorce, Yablochkov’s first wife settled in Moscow.

Yablochkov met his second wife, Maria Nikolaevna Albova, the daughter of the Russian florist-systematist, botanist, geographer and traveler Nikolai Mikhailovich Albov, in Paris. Pavel Nikolaevich visited the Albovs very often. 8 months after they met, Maria Albova married him in a civil marriage, according to French law. In his second marriage, a son was born, Platon (1879-?) - a railway engineer, worked on the Moscow Circular Railway as a bridge worker, during the First World War he was mobilized into military units, served in a large engineering unit, after the war he left for border. After Yablochkova's death, Maria Nikolaevna worked as a dressmaker in Saratov, then moved to St. Petersburg, and later to Paris.

Masonic activity

While living in Paris, Yablochkov was initiated into the Masonic lodge “Work and True Friends of Truth” No. 137 (fr. Travail et Vrais Amis Fideles) was under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of France (GLF). Yablochkov became the Worshipful Master of this lodge on June 25, 1887. Yablochkov founded the first Russian emigrant lodge “Cosmos” No. 288 in Paris, also under the jurisdiction of the VLF. He was the first Worshipful Master of this lodge. This lodge included many Russians who lived in France. In 1888, such subsequently famous Russian figures as professors M. M. Kovalevsky, E. V. de Roberti and N. A. Kotlyarevsky were initiated there. P. N. Yablochkov wanted to turn the Cosmos lodge into an elite one, uniting in its ranks the best representatives of Russian emigration in the field of science, literature and art. However, after the death of Pavel Nikolaevich, the lodge he created ceased its work for some time. She managed to resume her work only in 1899.

Awards

• Order of the Legion of Honor (4 January 1882, France)
• Nominal medal of the Imperial Russian Technical Society (April 14, 1879)

Memory

Bust of P. N. Yablochkov in Saratov near the College of Radio Electronics

Memorial plaque in honor of the village of Yablochkovo (Zhadovka)

They bear the name Yablochkov Monuments, bas-reliefs and memorial plaques

Monument at the grave of P. N. Yablochkov (village Sapozhok, Rtishchevsky district) Object of cultural heritage of the Russian Federation № 6410046000	Saratov. Memorial plaque on the facade of house No. 35 on the corner of M. Gorky and Yablochkov streets	Monument to P. N. Yablochkov in Serdobsk

Medallion with the image of P. N. Yablochkov at the station Elektrozavodskaya Moscow metro	Bas-relief with a portrait of P. N. Yablochkov in the column hall of the station Technological Institute of the St. Petersburg Metro

Yablochkov Prize Philately

• In August 1951, the USSR Post issued a series of postage stamps “Scientists of our Motherland”, one of the miniatures of which was dedicated to P. N. Yablochkov.
• In 1987, the USSR Ministry of Communications issued an artistic marked envelope (KhMK) dedicated to the 140th anniversary of the birth of P. N. Yablochkov.
• In 1997, KhMK was released in Russia with the original stamp, dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the inventor.
• In 2001, Russian Post issued a KhMK dedicated to the 125th anniversary of the invention of the arc lamp.

KhMK Post of the USSR. 140 years since the birth of Pavel Nikolaevich Yablochkov (1987)	KhMK with OM of Russia. 150 years since the birth of Pavel Nikolaevich Yablochkov (1997)	KhMK Russia. 125th anniversary of the invention of the arc lamp (2001)

See also

Notes

Literature

• Brachev V.S. Masons in Russia: from Peter I to the present day ().
• Ivanov A. Electrification of Gatchina until 1881 // Historical magazine “Gatchina through the centuries” ().
• History of the Saratov region 1590-1917: Reader. - Second ed., revised. and additional/ edited by V. A. Osipova, Z. E. Gusakova, V. M. Gochlerner.- Saratov: Saratov University Publishing House, 1983. - P. 122-123, P. 126-127.
• Kaptsov N. A. Pavel Nikolaevich Yablochkov, 1847-1894: His life and work. - M.: Gostekhizdat, 1957. - 96 p. - (People of Russian science).
• Kaptsov N. A. Yablochkov - the glory and pride of Russian electrical engineering (1847-1894). - M: Military Publishing House of the Ministry of Armed Forces of the USSR, 1948.
• Korzinov N. Advances in electric lighting and the merits of P. N. Yablochkov (article from the magazine “Science and Life” No. 39 for 1890) // Science and Life, 2010 ().
• Kuvanov A. He gave the world Russian light // Lenin’s Path. - September 27, 1973
• Kuznetsov I. So where was Yablochkov born? // Crossroads of Russia. - June 20, 2000
• Malinin G. A. Inventor of the “Russian light”: [About P. N. Yablochkov]. - Saratov: Volga Book Publishing House, 1984. - 112 p. - (Their names in the history of the region).
• Malinin G. A. Monuments and memorable places of the Saratov region (3rd edition, revised and supplemented). - Saratov: Volga Book Publishing House, 1979. - P. 215-217.
• P. N. Yablochkov. To the 50th anniversary of his death (1894-1944) / Ed. prof. L. D. Belkinda. - M., L.: State Energy Publishing House, 1944
• Pavel Nikolaevich Yablochkov. Proceedings. Documents. Materials/holes ed. Corresponding member USSR Academy of Sciences M. A. Chatelain, comp. prof. L. D. Belkind. - M.: Publishing House of the USSR Academy of Sciences, 1954
• Pavlova O. V. Inventor of the “Russian light” // Crossroads of Russia. - September 13, 1997
• The homeland of the creator of the “Russian sun” plunged into darkness // Saratov News. - November 27, 2001. - P. 3
• Serkov A. I. Russian Freemasonry 1731-2000. Encyclopedic Dictionary
• Chekanov A. A. Nikolai Nikolaevich Benardos. - M.: “Science”, 1983
• // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: In 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional ones). - St. Petersburg, 1890-1907
• First Electric Light In A Theater // Ann Arbor Argus. - March 13, 1896 ().

Links

• Some of Yablochkov's patents:
• Freemasons and technical progress // Echo of Moscow. - April 21, 2010 ().
• Paris. Lodge Cosmos // Virtual server of Dmitry Galkovsky ().
• A new technology park named after Pavel Yablochkov has opened in Penza // story of the TV-Express channel (Penza) dated June 1, 2012 ().
• Historical information about the emergence of the city of Serdobsk
• Yablochkovo (Zhadovka) Serdobsky district, Penza region ().

Nobles and noble families
Beklemishevs · Blokhins · Borhi: Sofya Ivanovna · Vetchinin Alexander Alexandrovich · Vladykins: Vasily Mikhailovich · Vladimir Nikolaevich · Ivan Nikolaevich ·

In the spring of 1876, the world media was full of headlines: “Light comes to us from the North - from Russia”; “The Northern Light, the Russian Light is a miracle of our time”; “Russia is the birthplace of electricity.”

In different languages, journalists admired Russian engineer Pavel Yablochkov, whose invention, presented at an exhibition in London, changed the understanding of the possibilities of using electricity.

The inventor was only 29 years old at the time of his outstanding triumph.

Pavel Yablochkov during his years of work in Moscow. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

Born inventor

Pavel Yablochkov was born on September 14, 1847 in the Serdobsky district of the Saratov province, in the family of an impoverished small nobleman who came from an old Russian family.

Pavel's father studied in the Naval Cadet Corps in his youth, but due to illness he was dismissed from service and awarded the civilian rank of XIV class. The mother was a powerful woman who held in strong hands not only the household, but also all family members.

Pasha became interested in design as a child. One of his first inventions was an original land surveying device, which was then used by residents of all surrounding villages.

In 1858, Pavel entered the Saratov men's gymnasium, but his father took him away from the 5th grade. The family was strapped for money, and there was not enough money for Pavel’s education. Nevertheless, they managed to place the boy in a private preparatory boarding house, where young people were prepared to enter the Nikolaev Engineering School. It was maintained by the military engineer Caesar Antonovich Cui. This extraordinary man, who was equally successful in military engineering and writing music, aroused Yablochkov’s interest in science.

In 1863, Yablochkov brilliantly passed the entrance exam to the Nikolaev Engineering School. In August 1866, he graduated from college with the first category, receiving the rank of engineer-second lieutenant. He was appointed a junior officer in the 5th engineer battalion, stationed in the Kyiv fortress.

Attention, electricity!

The parents were happy because they believed that their son could make a great military career. However, Pavel himself was not attracted to this path, and a year later he resigned from service with the rank of lieutenant under the pretext of illness.

Yablochkov showed great interest in electrical engineering, but he did not have enough knowledge in this area, and to fill this gap, he returned to military service. Thanks to this, he had the opportunity to enter the Technical Galvanic Institution in Kronstadt, the only school in Russia that trained military electrical engineers.

After graduation, Yablochkov served the required three years and in 1872 he left the army again, now forever.

Yablochkov's new place of work was the Moscow-Kursk Railway, where he was appointed head of the telegraph service. He combined his work with inventive activity. Having learned about the experiments Alexandra Lodygina to illuminate streets and premises with electric lamps, Yablochkov decided to improve the then existing arc lamps.

How did the train spotlight come about?

In the spring of 1874, a government train was supposed to travel along the Moscow-Kursk road. The road management decided to illuminate the path for the train at night using electricity. However, officials did not really understand how to do this. Then they remembered the hobby of the head of the telegraph service and turned to him. Yablochkov agreed with great joy.

For the first time in the history of railway transport, a searchlight with an arc lamp - a Foucault regulator - was installed on a steam locomotive. The device was unreliable, but Yablochkov made every effort to make it work. Standing on the front platform of the locomotive, he changed the coals in the lamp and tightened the regulator. When changing locomotives, Yablochkov moved to a new one along with a searchlight.

The train successfully reached its destination, to the delight of Yablochkov’s management, but the engineer himself decided that this method of lighting was too complex and expensive and required improvement.

Yablochkov leaves his railway service and opens a physical instrument workshop in Moscow, where numerous experiments with electricity are carried out.

"Yablochkov's Candle" Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

The Russian idea came to life in Paris

The main invention in his life was born during experiments with the electrolysis of table salt. In 1875, during one of the electrolysis experiments, parallel coals immersed in an electrolytic bath accidentally touched each other. Immediately an electric arc flashed between them, illuminating the walls of the laboratory with bright light for a short moment.

The engineer came up with the idea that it was possible to create an arc lamp without an interelectrode distance regulator, which would be much more reliable.

In the fall of 1875, Yablochkov intended to take his inventions to the World Exhibition in Philadelphia in order to demonstrate the successes of Russian engineers in the field of electricity. But the workshop was not doing well, there was not enough money, and Yablochkov could only get to Paris. There he met Academician Breguet, who owned a physical instrument workshop. Having assessed the knowledge and experience of the Russian engineer, Breguet offered him a job. Yablochkov accepted the invitation.

In the spring of 1876, he managed to complete the work of creating an arc lamp without a regulator. On March 23, 1876, Pavel Yablochkov received French patent No. 112024.

Yablochkov's lamp turned out to be simpler, more convenient and cheaper to operate than its predecessors. It consisted of two rods separated by an insulating kaolin gasket. Each of the rods was clamped into a separate terminal of the candlestick. An arc discharge was ignited at the upper ends, and the arc flame shone brightly, gradually burning the coals and vaporizing the insulating material.

Money for some, science for others

On April 15, 1876, an exhibition of physical instruments opened in London. Yablochkov represented the Breguet company and at the same time spoke on his own behalf. On one of the days of the exhibition, the engineer presented his lamp. The new light source created a real sensation. The name “Yablochkov candle” was firmly attached to the lamp. It turned out to be extremely convenient to use. Firms operating “Yablochkov candles” were rapidly opening all over the world.

But the incredible success did not make the Russian engineer a millionaire. He took the modest post of head of the technical department of the French "General Electricity Company with Yablochkov's patents."

He received a small percentage of the profits, but Yablochkov did not complain - he was quite happy with the fact that he had the opportunity to continue scientific research.

Meanwhile, “Yablochkov candles” appeared on sale and began to sell out in huge quantities. Each candle cost about 20 kopecks and burned for about an hour and a half; After this time, a new candle had to be inserted into the lantern. Subsequently, lanterns with automatic replacement of candles were invented.

“Yablochkov’s Candle” in the music hall in Paris. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

From Paris to Cambodia

In 1877, “Yablochkov’s candles” conquered Paris. First they illuminated the Louvre, then the opera house, and then one of the central streets. The light of the new product was so unusually bright that at first Parisians gathered to simply admire the invention of the Russian master. Soon, “Russian electricity” was already lighting up the hippodrome in Paris.

The success of Yablochkov candles in London forced local businessmen to try to get them banned. The discussion in the English Parliament lasted for several years, and Yablochkov’s candles continued to work successfully.

“Candles” conquered Germany, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, and in Rome they illuminated the ruins of the Colosseum. By the end of 1878, the best stores in Philadelphia, a city in which Yablochkov never made it to the World Exhibition, also illuminated his “candles.”

Even the Shah of Persia and the King of Cambodia illuminated their chambers with similar lamps.

In Russia, the first test of electric lighting using the Yablochkov system was carried out on October 11, 1878. On this day, the barracks of the Kronstadt training crew and the square near the house occupied by the commander of the Kronstadt seaport were illuminated. Two weeks later, on December 4, 1878, “Yablochkov’s candles” illuminated the Bolshoi (Kamenny) Theater in St. Petersburg for the first time.

Yablochkov returned all inventions to Russia

Yablochkov’s merits have also been recognized in the scientific world. On April 21, 1876, Yablochkov was elected a full member of the French Physical Society. On April 14, 1879, the scientist was awarded a personalized medal of the Imperial Russian Technical Society.

In 1881, the first International Electrotechnical Exhibition opened in Paris. At it, Yablochkov’s inventions were highly appreciated and were recognized by the decision of the International Jury out of competition. However, the exhibition became evidence that the time of the “Yablochkov candle” was running out - an incandescent lamp was presented in Paris that could burn for 800-1000 hours without replacement.

Yablochkov was not at all embarrassed by this. He switched to creating a powerful and economical chemical current source. Experiments in this direction were very dangerous - experiments with chlorine resulted in a burn to the mucous membrane of the lungs for the scientist. Yablochkov began to have health problems.

For about ten more years he continued to live and work, shuttling between Europe and Russia. Finally, in 1892, he and his family returned to their homeland for good. Wanting all inventions to become the property of Russia, he spent almost all of his fortune on buying out patents.

Monument at the grave of Pavel Yablochkov. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org / Andrei Sdobnikov

Pride of the Nation

But in St. Petersburg they managed to forget about the scientist. Yablochkov left for the Saratov province, where he intended to continue scientific research in the silence of the village. But then Pavel Nikolaevich quickly realized that there were simply no conditions in the village for such work. Then he went to Saratov, where, living in a hotel room, he began drawing up a plan for electric lighting of the city.

Health, undermined by dangerous experiments, continued to deteriorate. In addition to breathing problems, I was bothered by pain in my heart, my legs were swollen and completely gave out.

At about 6 o'clock in the morning on March 31, 1894, Pavel Nikolaevich Yablochkov passed away. The inventor passed away at the age of 46. He was buried on the outskirts of the village of Sapozhok in the fence of the Archangel Michael Church in the family crypt.

Unlike many figures of pre-revolutionary Russia, the name of Pavel Yablochkov was revered in Soviet times. Streets were named after him in various cities across the country, including Moscow and Leningrad. In 1947, the Yablochkov Prize was established for the best work in electrical engineering, which is awarded once every three years. And in 1970, a crater on the far side of the Moon was named in honor of Pavel Nikolaevich Yablochkov.

On September 14, 1847, Pyotr Yablochkov was born, who made many inventions, but went down in history solely as the creator of the “Yablochkov candle.”

The greatest reward for any inventor is if his name, which is named after one of his inventions, is forever included in the history of mankind. In Russia, many scientists and engineers have managed to earn such an award: just remember Dmitry Mendeleev and his table, Mikhail Kalashnikov and his machine gun, Georgy Kotelnikov and his backpack parachute... Among them is one of the pioneers of world electrical engineering, the most talented Russian engineer Pavel Nikolaevich Yablochkov . After all, the phrase “Yablochkov candle” has been known in the world for almost a century and a half!

But in the same greatest reward - the perpetuation of a name in an invention - lies the greatest curse for a scientist. Because all his other developments and discoveries, even if there were more than a dozen of them against the one and only world-famous one, remain in his shadow. And in this sense, the biography of Pavel Yablochkov is a classic example. He, who was the first to illuminate the streets of Paris with electric light, confirmed with his whole life the truth of the French proverb “If you want to remain unnoticed, stand under a lamp.” Because the first and only thing that comes to mind when the name Yablochkov is mentioned is his candle. Meanwhile, it was our fellow countryman who, for example, invented the world’s first electrical alternating current transformer. As his contemporaries said about him, Yablochkov opened two eras in electrical engineering: the era of the direct application of electric current to lighting and the era of the use of transformed current. And if we judge his actions by the Hamburg account, then we must admit: it was Yablochkov who brought electric light from the cramped laboratory space to the wide streets of the cities of the world.

From Saratov to St. Petersburg

By origin, the future genius of electrical engineering was the most well-born nobleman. The Yablochkov family, quite numerous and spreading over three provinces - Kaluga, Saratov and Tula, traces its history back to the second half of the 16th century from Moses Yablochkov and his son Daniil.

Most of the Yablochkovs, as befitted Russian nobles, were classic representatives of the service class, distinguishing themselves both in military affairs and in government, receiving well-deserved awards in both money and lands. But over time, the family became poorer, and the father of the future inventor of the electric candle could no longer boast of a large estate. Nikolai Pavlovich Yablochkov, according to family tradition, chose the military path, entering the Naval Cadet Corps, but was forced to resign from service due to illness. Alas, poor health was one of the few components of the inheritance that the retired sailor passed on to his son...

However, the other part of the same inheritance was more than worthy. Despite their small wealth, the Yablochkov family, who lived on the Petropavlovka estate in the Serdobsky district of the Saratov province, was distinguished by its high culture and education. And the boy, born on September 14, 1847 to Nikolai and Elizaveta Yablochkov and baptized in honor of the confessor Paul of Nicea, probably had a brilliant career ahead of him.

Little Pavel did not disappoint these expectations. A smart and receptive boy, like a sponge, he absorbed the knowledge that his parents and older brothers and sisters shared with him. Pavlik showed particular interest in technology and the exact sciences - here, too, his father’s “inheritance” was felt: the Naval Cadet Corps was always famous for teaching these very disciplines.

In the summer of 1858, Pavel Yablochkov, less than 11 years old, was enrolled in the Saratov men's gymnasium. Like all other applicants, he was subjected to an entrance test - and based on the results, he was immediately enrolled in the second class, which was not a very common occurrence. The teachers appreciated the boy’s high level of preparation and subsequently more than once drew attention to the fact that Yablochkov Jr. did better than most of his classmates, showing particular success in the same exact and technical disciplines.

Is it any wonder that the father’s decision to take his son out of the gymnasium in November 1862, almost at the beginning of the school year, caused painful bewilderment among the teachers. But the reason was obvious and understandable: it became too difficult for the family to pay for the boy’s education. The solution that the Yablochkovs found was equally obvious: it was decided to send their son to a military school. The choice was also obvious: the Nikolaev Engineering School, which trained military engineers for the Russian army, best suited the inclinations of 15-year-old Pavel.

Officer's youth

It was impossible for a fifth-grader who had dropped out of school to enroll in college right away: he had to improve his knowledge in basic subjects and wait for the start of the next school year. Pavel Yablochkov spent these few months in an amazing place - a private cadet corps created by the famous military engineer and composer Caesar Cui. The “preparatory engineering boarding house” invented by Caesar Antonovich together with his brave wife Malvina Rafailovna Bamberg cost Yablochkov’s parents less than the Saratov gymnasium. And that’s to say: this boarding house, although it was intended to improve the financial situation of the young family, was not designed to provide significant income, but rather provided Cui, who taught at the Nikolaev Engineering School, with new students whom he already knew well.

Tsezar Antonovich quickly assessed the potential of the new pupil from the Saratov province. A talented engineer himself, Cui immediately noticed Pavel Yablochkov and realized how gifted the boy was in engineering. In addition, the new pupil did not hide from his teacher either his technical inclinations or the inventions already made - a new land-measuring device and a device for calculating the distance traveled by a cart. Alas, no precise information has been preserved about either invention. But there is no doubt that they were: after Yablochkov became famous for his experiments in the field of electricity, many contemporaries spoke about his first inventions, arguing that both devices were used with great success by peasants in the Saratov province.

Pavel Yablochkov during his years of work in Moscow. Image: istorialamp.ru

By the summer of 1863, Pavel Yablochkov had improved his knowledge to the required level, and on September 30 he passed the entrance exam to the Nikolaev Engineering School with honors and was enrolled in the junior conductor class. At that time, training at the school consisted of two stages: the school itself, which admitted teenagers from noble families and from which ensigns and second lieutenants were graduated, and the Nikolaev Engineering Academy, which had just merged with it, which provided a two-year higher military education.

Pavel Yablochkov never reached the academic bench, despite the fact that during all three years of study at the school he was among the first students and was distinguished by excellent knowledge and amazing diligence. In 1866, he passed the final exams in the first category, which gave him the right to immediately receive the second junior officer rank - second lieutenant engineer - and went to his duty station in Kyiv. There the young officer was enlisted in the fifth sapper battalion of the engineering team of the Kyiv fortress. But, unlike the school, military service itself clearly weighed heavily on Yablochkov, who sought to engage in scientific activities rather than in engineering support for the army. And just a year later, at the end of 1867, Pavel Nikolaevich, with good reason citing poor health (even the serious physical exertion endured by the students of the Nikolaev School did not help to improve it), resigned.

True, it did not last long. Yablochkov quickly realized that to obtain the knowledge he needed in the field of engineering, and especially in the field of electrical engineering, the army was still the best option, and in 1868 he returned to service. He was attracted by the Kronstadt Technical Galvanic Institution - the only electrical engineering school in Russia at that time. Pavel Nikolaevich seeks a secondment to Kronstadt and eight months later returns to the Kyiv fortress, but to the post of head of the galvanic team. This meant that from now on the young officer was responsible in the citadel for all work using electricity, primarily for minecraft and the telegraph, which was actively included in the army's technical arsenal.

With a spotlight on a locomotive

To the great regret of his father, who saw in his son a continuation of his failed military career, Pavel Nikolaevich did not stay long in the service. Three years later, in 1872, he resigned again, this time completely. But he will still have to deal with the military, and not with the army, but with the navy (here it is, his father’s inheritance!). After all, the first lanterns equipped with the “Yablochkov candle” will be lit in Russia in six years precisely in Kronstadt - at the walls of the house of the commander of the Kronstadt seaport and in the barracks of the Training Crew.

And then, in 1872, Yablochkov went to Moscow - where, as he knows, they are most actively engaged in research in the field of electrical engineering. The center of attraction for active young scientists conducting electrical experiments was then the Polytechnic Museum. In the local circle of electrician inventors, work is in full swing on devices that will make it possible to turn electricity into everyday energy accessible to everyone, helping to make life easier for mankind.

Spending all his free time on joint experiments with other electrical enthusiasts, Yablochkov earns a living for himself and his young wife by working as the head of the telegraph office of the Moscow-Kursk Railway. And it was here, so to speak, right at his workplace, that in 1874 he received an amazing offer: to put into practice his knowledge in the field of electrical engineering and electric lighting by equipping a lighting device... with a steam locomotive!

Pavel Nikolaevich received such an unexpected order because the authorities of the Moscow-Kursk Railway urgently needed to impress the family of Emperor Alexander II, who were traveling by train from Moscow to Crimea for a summer vacation in Livadia. Formally, the railway workers sought to ensure the safety of the royal family, for which they needed night lighting of the track.

Street lighting with “Yablochkov candles” during the Paris Exhibition of 1878. Image: wikimedia.org

A spotlight with a Foucault regulator - a prototype of the “Yablochkov candle”, and at that time one of the most common electric arc light sources - became the world's first lighting device installed on a steam locomotive. And, like any innovation, it required constant attention. For more than two days that the royal train was traveling to Crimea, Yablochkov spent almost 20 hours on the front platform of the locomotive, constantly monitoring the searchlight and turning the screws of the Foucault regulator. Moreover, the locomotive was far from alone: ​​the train’s tractor was changed at least four times, and each time Yablochkov had to manually transfer lighting equipment, wires and batteries from one locomotive to another and reinstall them on the site.

Way to the West

The success of this enterprise gave Pavel Yablochkov the idea of ​​opening his own business, so as not to carve out hours and minutes for experiments, but to make them the main business of his life. At the end of the same 1874, Yablochkov left his telegraph service and opened an electrical workshop and a store attached to it in Moscow.

But, alas, no matter how great the engineering talent of the heir of an old noble family was, his commercial abilities turned out to be just as small. Within literally one year, Pavel Yablochkov’s workshop and store fell into complete disrepair: the inventor spent much more money on his research and experiments than he managed to earn. And then Pavel Nikolaevich decided to take a desperate step: he decided to go overseas, to America, hoping to find there either a demand for his research, which was not there at home, or an investor who could turn his experiments into capital.

Yablochkov set off on a long journey in the fall of 1875, hoping to reach the end of the Philadelphia Exhibition. Pavel Nikolaevich really wanted to demonstrate on it the recently invented electromagnet with a flat winding - his first invention, which he brought to the point of obtaining a patent.

But the Russian inventor never made it to Philadelphia: financial difficulties stopped him long before the ocean shore, in Paris. Realizing that now he can only count on his own knowledge in electrical engineering and on someone who can evaluate and apply his inventions to the business, Yablochkov goes to academician Louis Breguet, a well-known telegraph specialist at that time and the owner of an electrical workshop. And the French academician immediately understands that luck has brought him a genius: he hires Pavel Nikolaevich without unnecessary formalities, expecting that the newcomer will quickly prove himself.

And these expectations were fully justified at the beginning of 1876. On March 23, Yablochkov received his first patent No. 112024 in France for an electric arc lamp - then no one had yet called it “Yablochkov’s candle.” Fame came a little later, when Breguet's workshop sent its representative, that is, Yablochkov, to an exhibition of physical instruments in London. It was there that the Russian inventor publicly demonstrated his invention for the first time on April 15, 1876 - and went down in history forever...

The bright light of the Yablochkov candle

From London, “Yablochkov’s candle” began its triumphal march around the world. Residents of Paris were the first to appreciate the benefits of the new light source, where lanterns with “Yablochkov candles” appeared in the winter and spring of 1877. Then came the turn of London, Berlin, Rome, Vienna, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Rio de Janeiro, Delhi, Calcutta, Madras... By 1878, the “Russian candle” reached the homeland of its creator: the first lanterns were installed in Kronstadt , and then they illuminate the Stone Theater in St. Petersburg.

The device of the electric “Yablochkov candle”. Image: by-time.ru

Initially, Pavel Yablochkov transferred all rights to his inventions to the Union for the Study of Electric Light (Yablochkov's system), in French - Le Syndicat d'études de la lumière électrique (système Jablochkoff). A little later, on its basis, the General Electric Company arose and became world famous - Société Générale d"électricité (procédés Jablochkoff). How great was the turnover of the company that produced and sold “Yablochkov candles” can be judged by this fact: every day it produced 8,000 such candles, and they all sold out without a trace.

But Yablochkov dreamed of returning to Russia to put his inventions at her service. In addition, the success he achieved in Europe encouraged him and, apparently, gave him hope that he could now be commercially successful in Russia. As a result, he bought it for a crazy sum at that time - a million francs! - the rights to his patents from a French company, Pavel Nikolaevich sets off on his way back to his homeland.

In 1879, the Electric Lighting Partnership P.N. appeared in St. Petersburg. Yablochkov the Inventor and Co., and soon Yablochkov would organize an electromechanical plant. But, alas, it was not possible to repeat the success of Société Générale d'électricité in Russia. As Yablochkov’s second wife wrote in her memoirs, “it was difficult to meet a less practical person like Yablochkov, and the choice of employees was unsuccessful... The money was spent, the thought about the structure of Russian society with capital from outside failed, and the matter in Russia died out.”

In addition, trading in “Yablochkov candles” was not Pavel Nikolaevich’s life goal at all: he was much more inspired by work on new electrical machines - alternating current generators and transformers, as well as further work on the distribution of electric current in circuits and on chemical sources of electric current. And it was precisely these scientific researches, unfortunately, that did not find understanding in the inventor’s homeland - despite the fact that his fellow scientists highly appreciated his work. Deciding that European entrepreneurs would be much more interested in new units, Yablochkov left his homeland again and returned to Paris in 1880. Less than a year later, in 1881, at the Paris World Exhibition, the “Yablochkov candle” will again bring glory to its creator - and then it will become clear that its economic life turned out to be as short as the operating time of each individual candle. Thomas Edison's incandescent lamps appeared on the world stage, and Yablochkov could only watch the triumph of the American, who built his business on minimal modifications to the inventions of his Russian colleague and his fellow countrymen.

Pavel Yablochkov returned to Russia only 12 years later, in 1893. By this time, his health was completely undermined, his commercial affairs were in disarray, and he no longer had enough strength for full-fledged scientific work. On March 31, 1894, the greatest inventor, one of the first world-famous Russian engineers, Pavel Nikolaevich Yablochkov, died - as witnesses of his last months of life say, without stopping his experiments. True, he had to conduct the last of them in a poor room in a Saratov hotel, from where the brilliant electrical engineer never left alive.

“...The world owes all this to our compatriot”

What scientific and technical legacy did Pavel Yablochkov leave behind? It should be noted that it has not been possible to appreciate it to this day: a considerable part of Pavel Nikolaevich’s scientific archive simply disappeared during his numerous moves. But even the information that has been preserved in patent archives and documents, and the memoirs of contemporaries, gives an idea that Yablochkov should be considered one of the founding fathers of modern electrical engineering.

Of course, the main and most famous invention of Yablochkov is the legendary “Yablochkov candle”. It is brilliantly simple: two carbon electrodes connected by a thin metal thread for ignition and separated along the entire length by a kaolin insulator, which evaporated as the electrodes burned out. Yablochkov quickly figured out adding various metal salts to kaolin, which made it possible to change the tone and saturation of the light from the lamps.

USSR postage stamp dedicated to P.N. Yablochkov, produced in 1951. Image: wikipedia.org

Secondly, this is an alternating current magnetoelectric machine without rotational motion (the predecessor of one of the famous inventions of engineer Nikola Tesla): Yablochkov received one of the French patents for it. He filed the same patent for a magneto-dynamo-electric machine, which did not have moving windings. Both the magnetizing winding and the winding in which the electromotive force was induced remained stationary, and a toothed iron disk rotated, changing the magnetic flux as it moved. Due to this, the inventor was able to get rid of sliding contacts and make a machine that was simple and reliable in design.

The Yablochkov “cliptic machine” was also completely original in design, the name of which the inventor gave, as he himself wrote, according to the location of the “rotation axis at an angle relative to the axis of the magnetic field, which resembles the inclination of the ecliptic.” True, there was little practical meaning in such a sophisticated design, but Yablochkov’s modern electrical engineering largely came not from theory, but from practice, which required, among other things, such unusual constructions.

And research in the field of generating electricity through chemical reactions and creating galvanic cells, which Yablochkov became interested in in the last decade of his life, received an adequate assessment only half a century later. In the mid-twentieth century, experts assessed them as follows: “Everything created by Yablochkov in the field of galvanic cells is distinguished by an unusually rich variety of principles and design solutions, testifying to the exceptional intellectual data and outstanding talent of the inventor.”

The role of Pavel Nikolaevich Yablochkov in the world history of electrical engineering was best formulated by his colleague in the electrical engineering circle at the Polytechnic University, Vladimir Chikolev. Moreover, he formulated it while being a categorical opponent of many of Yablochkov’s ideas. However, this did not prevent Chikolev from appreciating Pavel Nikolaevich’s innovation. In 1880, he wrote about him this way: “I believe that Yablochkov’s main merit is not in the invention of his candle, but in the fact that under the banner of this candle, with unquenchable energy, persistence, and consistency, he raised electric lighting by the ears and put it in its proper place.” pedestal. If then electric lighting received credit in society, if its progress, supported by the trust and funds of the public, then went on in such giant strides, if the thoughts of workers, among whom the famous names of Siemens, Jamin, Edison and others appear, rushed to improve this lighting, then everyone The world owes this to our compatriot Yablochkov.”

Nowadays, it is difficult to imagine that the word “electrical engineering” was not known only about 100 years ago. In experimental science it is not as easy to find a discoverer as in theoretical science. The textbooks say so: the Pythagorean theorem, Newton’s binomial, the Copernican system, Einstein’s theory, the periodic table... But not everyone knows the name of the person who invented electric light.

Who created a glass bulb with metal hairs inside - an electric light bulb? It's not easy to answer this question. After all, it is connected with dozens of scientists. In their ranks is Pavel Yablochkov, whose short biography is presented in our article. This Russian inventor stands out not only for his height (198 cm), but also for his work. His work marked the beginning of lighting using electricity. It is not for nothing that the figure of such a researcher as Pavel Nikolaevich Yablochkov still enjoys authority in the scientific community. What did he invent? You will find the answer to this question, as well as many other interesting information about Pavel Nikolaevich, in our article.

Origin, years of study

When Pavel Yablochkov (his photo is presented above) was born, there was cholera in the Volga region. His parents were frightened by the great pestilence, so they did not take the child to church for baptism. Historians tried in vain to find Yablochkov’s name in church records. His parents were small landowners, and Pavel Yablochkov’s childhood passed quietly, in a large landowner’s house with half-empty rooms, a mezzanine and orchards.

When Pavel was 11 years old, he went to study at the Saratov gymnasium. It should be noted that 4 years before this, Nikolai Chernyshevsky, a freethinking teacher, left this educational institution for the St. Petersburg cadet corps. Pavel Yablochkov did not study at the gymnasium for long. After some time, his family became very poor. There was only one way out of this situation - a military career, which had already become a real family tradition. And Pavel Yablochkov went to the Pavlovsk Royal Palace in St. Petersburg, which was called the Engineering Castle after its residents.

Yablochkov - military engineer

The Sevastopol campaign at this time was still in the recent past (less than ten years had passed). It demonstrated sailor valor, as well as the high art of domestic fortifiers. Military engineering was in high esteem in those years. General E.I. Totleben, who became famous during the Crimean War, personally nurtured the engineering school where Pavel Yablochkov was now studying.

His biography during these years is marked by his residence in the boarding house of Caesar Antonovich Cui, an engineer-general who taught at this school. He was a talented specialist and an even more gifted composer and music critic. His romances and operas still live today. Perhaps these years spent in the capital were the happiest for Pavel Nikolaevich. No one urged him on; there were no patrons or creditors yet. Great insights had not yet come to him, however, the disappointments that subsequently filled his entire life had not yet occurred.

The first failure befell Yablochkov when, after completing his training, he was promoted to second lieutenant, sent to serve in the fifth Sapper Regiment, which belonged to the Kyiv fortress garrison. The battalion reality that Pavel Nikolaevich became acquainted with turned out to be little similar to the creative, interesting life of an engineer that he dreamed of in St. Petersburg. Yablochkov did not become a military man: a year later he resigned “due to illness.”

First acquaintance with electricity

After this, the most unsettled period began in the life of Pavel Nikolaevich. However, it opens with one event, which turned out to be very important in his future fate. A year after his resignation, Pavel Nikolaevich Yablochkov suddenly finds himself in the army again. His biography after that took a completely different path...

The future inventor is undergoing training at the Technical Galvanic Institution. Here his knowledge in the field of “galvanism and magnetism” (the words “electrical engineering” did not yet exist at that time) expands and deepens. Many famous engineers and young scientists in their youth, like our hero, circled through life, trying things on, looking closely, looking for something, until they suddenly found what they were looking for. Then no temptation could lead them astray. In the same way, 22-year-old Pavel Nikolaevich found his calling - electricity. Yablochkov Pavel Nikolaevich dedicated his entire life to him. The inventions he made are all related to electricity.

Work in Moscow, new acquaintances

Pavel Nikolaevich finally leaves the army. He goes to Moscow and soon heads the department of the telegraph service of the Moscow-Kursk railway. Here he has a laboratory at his disposal, here he can already test some, albeit still timid, ideas. Pavel Nikolaevich also finds a strong scientific society uniting natural scientists. In Moscow, he learns about the Polytechnic Exhibition, which has just opened. It presents the latest achievements of domestic technology. Yablochkov has like-minded people, friends who, like him, are fascinated by electric sparks - tiny man-made lightning! With one of them, Nikolai Gavrilovich Glukhov, Pavel Nikolaevich decides to open his own “business”. We are talking about a universal electrical workshop.

Moving to Paris, patent for a candle

However, their “business” burst. This happened because the inventors Glukhov and Yablochkov were not businessmen. In order to avoid debt prison, Pavel Nikolaevich urgently travels abroad. In the spring of 1876, in Paris, Pavel Nikolaevich Yablochkov received a patent for an “electric candle”. This invention would not have happened if not for previous advances in science. Therefore, we will briefly talk about them.

History of lamps before Yablochkov

Let’s make a short historical digression dedicated to lamps in order to explain the essence of Yablochkov’s most important invention, without getting into the technical jungle. The first lamp is a torch. It has been known to mankind since prehistoric times. Then (before Yablochkov) first the torch was invented, then the candle, after some time the kerosene lamp and, finally, the gas lantern. All these lamps, with all their diversity, are united by one common principle: something inside them burns when combined with oxygen.

Invention of the electric arc

V.V. Petrov, a talented Russian scientist, in 1802 described the experience of using galvanic cells. This inventor obtained an electric arc and created the world's first electric artificial light. Lightning is natural light. Humanity has known about it for a long time; another thing is that people did not understand its nature.

Modest Petrov did not send his work, written in Russian, anywhere. It was not known in Europe, so for a long time the honor of discovering the arc was attributed to the chemist Davy, the famous English chemist. Naturally, he knew nothing about Petrov’s achievement. He repeated his experiment 12 years later and named the arc in honor of Volta, the famous physicist from Italy. It is interesting that it has absolutely nothing to do with A. Volta himself.

Arc lamps and the inconveniences associated with them

The discovery of the Russian and English scientist gave impetus to the emergence of fundamentally new arc electrodes. In them, two electrodes came together, an arc flashed, after which a bright light appeared. However, the inconvenience was that the carbon electrodes burned out after some time, and the distance between them increased. Eventually, the arc went out. It was necessary to constantly bring the electrodes closer together. This is how various differential, clock, manual and other adjustment mechanisms appeared, which, in turn, required vigilant observation. It is clear that each lamp of this kind was an extraordinary phenomenon.

The first incandescent lamp and its disadvantages

The French scientist Jobard proposed using an electric incandescent conductor for lighting, rather than an arc. Shanzhi, his compatriot, tried to create such a lamp. A. N. Lodygin, a Russian inventor, brought it to mind. He created the first practical incandescent light bulb. However, the coke rod inside it was very fragile and delicate. In addition, there was insufficient vacuum in the glass flask, so it quickly burned this rod. Because of this, in the mid-1870s they decided to put an end to the incandescent lamp. Inventors returned to the arc again. And that’s when Pavel Yablochkov appeared.

Electric candle

Unfortunately, we do not know how he invented the candle. Perhaps the idea of ​​it appeared when Pavel Nikolaevich was struggling with the regulators of the arc lamp he had installed. For the first time in the history of railways, it was installed on a steam locomotive (a special train that traveled to Crimea with Tsar Alexander II). Perhaps the sight of the arc suddenly flashing in his workshop sank into his soul. There is a legend that in one of the Parisian cafes Yablochkov accidentally put two pencils next to each other on a table. And then it dawned on him: there is no need to bring anything closer together! Let the electrodes be nearby, because the fusible insulation that burns in the arc will be installed between them. This way the electrodes will burn and shorten at the same time! As they say, everything ingenious is simple.

How Yablochkov's candle conquered the world

The Yablochkov candle was really simple in its design. And this was her huge advantage. Businessmen who did not understand technology could understand its meaning. That is why Yablochkov’s candle conquered the world with unprecedented speed. Its first demonstration took place in the spring of 1876 in London. Pavel Nikolaevich, who just recently was running away from creditors, returned to Paris. The campaign to exploit the patents he owned arose instantly.

A special factory was founded that produced 8 thousand candles daily. They began to illuminate the famous shops and hotels of Paris, the indoor hippodrome and opera, and the port in Le Havre. A garland of lanterns appeared on Opera Street - an unprecedented sight, a real fairy tale. “Russian light” was on everyone’s lips. P.I. Tchaikovsky admired him in one of his letters. Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev also wrote from Paris to his brother that Pavel Yablochkov had invented something completely new in the field of lighting. Pavel Nikolayevich noted later, not without pride, that electricity spread throughout the world precisely from the French capital and reached the courts of the King of Cambodia, and not the other way around - from America to Paris, as they say.

"Extinction" of a candle

The history of science is marked by amazing things! The entire electrical lighting technology of the world, led by P. N. Yablochkov, for about five years triumphantly moved, in essence, along a hopeless, false path. The candle celebration did not last very long, as did Yablochkov’s material independence. The candle did not immediately “go out”, but it could not withstand competition with incandescent lamps. The significant inconveniences she had contributed to this. This is a decrease in the luminous point during the combustion process, as well as fragility.

Of course, the work of Swan, Lodygin, Maxim, Edison, Nernst and other inventors of the incandescent lamp, in turn, did not immediately convince humanity of its advantages. Auer installed his cap on a gas burner in 1891. This cap increased the brightness of the latter. Even then, there were cases when the authorities decided to replace the installed electric lighting with gas. However, already during Pavel Nikolaevich’s lifetime it was clear that the candle he invented had no prospects. What is the reason that the name of the creator of the “Russian light” is firmly inscribed in the history of science to this day and has been surrounded by respect and honor for more than a hundred years?

The significance of Yablochkov’s invention

Yablochkov Pavel Nikolaevich was the first to establish electric light in people's minds. The lamp, which only yesterday was very rare, has already come closer to people today, has ceased to be some kind of overseas miracle, and has convinced people of its happy future. The turbulent and rather short history of this invention contributed to the solution of many pressing problems that faced the technology of that time.

Further biography of Pavel Nikolaevich Yablochkov

Pavel Nikolaevich lived a short life, which was not very happy. After Pavel Yablochkov invented his candle, he worked a lot both in our country and abroad. However, none of his subsequent achievements influenced the progress of technology as much as his candle. Pavel Nikolaevich put a lot of work into creating the first electrical engineering magazine in our country called “Electricity”. It began publication in 1880. In addition, on March 21, 1879, Pavel Nikolaevich read a report on electric lighting at the Russian Technical Society. He was awarded the Society's medal for his achievements. However, these signs of attention turned out to be insufficient to ensure that Pavel Nikolaevich Yablochkov was provided with good working conditions. The inventor understood that in backward Russia in the 1880s there were few opportunities for the implementation of his technical ideas. One of them was the production of electric machines, which were built by Pavel Nikolaevich Yablochkov. His short biography is again marked by his move to Paris. Returning there in 1880, he sold the patent for the dynamo, after which he began preparations for participation in the World Electrotechnical Exhibition, which was held for the first time. Its opening was scheduled for 1881. At the beginning of this year, Pavel Nikolaevich Yablochkov devoted himself entirely to design work.

The short biography of this scientist continues with the fact that Yablochkov’s inventions received the highest award at the 1881 exhibition. They deserve recognition even outside of competition. His authority was high, and Yablochkov Pavel Nikolaevich became a member of the international jury, whose tasks included reviewing exhibits and deciding on awarding awards. It should be said that this exhibition itself was a triumph for the incandescent lamp. From that time on, the electric candle gradually began to decline.

In subsequent years, Yablochkov began working on galvanic cells and dynamos - electric current generators. The path that Pavel Nikolaevich followed in his works remains revolutionary in our time. Success on it could mark the beginning of a new era in electrical engineering. Yablochkov never returned to the light sources. In subsequent years, he invented several electrical machines and received patents for them.

The last years of the inventor's life

In the period from 1881 to 1893, Yablochkov conducted his experiments in difficult material conditions and in continuous labor. He lived in Paris, completely devoting himself to the problems of science. The scientist skillfully experimented, applied many original ideas in his work, following unexpected and very bold paths. Of course, he was ahead of the state of technology, science and industry of that time. The explosion that occurred during experiments in his laboratory almost cost Pavel Nikolaevich his life. The constant deterioration of his financial situation, as well as a heart disease that was progressing, all undermined the strength of the inventor. After an absence of thirteen years, he decided to return to his homeland.

Pavel Nikolaevich left for Russia in July 1893, but became very ill immediately upon arrival. He found such a neglected economy on his estate that he could not even hope for an improvement in his financial situation. Together with his wife and son, Pavel Nikolaevich settled in a Saratov hotel. He continued his experiments even when he was sick and deprived of his livelihood.

Yablochkov Pavel Nikolaevich, whose discoveries are firmly inscribed in the history of science, died of heart disease at the age of 47 (in 1894), in the city of Saratov. Our homeland is proud of his ideas and works.

Russian electrical engineer and inventor, author of the “Yablochkov candle”, “Russian light”

The inventions of inquisitive researchers always prepare a breakthrough in science, technology and the very way of life of society. At the end of the 19th century, major cities of world powers were illuminated one after another. In 1856, electric lamps were already burning in Moscow on Red Square during the coronation of Alexander II. However, they worked for only a short time and were very expensive, so scientists persistently searched for a simple and trouble-free mechanism for their use. Almost a whole century passed after the discovery of electricity before this phenomenon was put to the service of man. Yablochkov’s “electric candle” was one of the first simple and economical inventions that laid the foundation for the mass use of lighting devices for street lighting.

Even in his youth, Pavel Nikolaevich Yablochkov became interested in physics, especially its little-studied area - electricity. After graduating from the Nikolaev Engineering School and the St. Petersburg Galvanic Institute, he became a military engineer. He served as head of the telegraph office of the Moscow-Kursk Railway. In his workshop, Pavel Nikolaevich tested devices that he himself invented: a signal thermometer for regulating the temperature in railway cars, an installation for lighting the railway track with an electric spotlight... In 1874, while installing electric light along the entire route of the imperial train, Pavel Yablochkov saw all the inconveniences of the voltage arc regulators used. At the same time, the researcher decided to devote himself to developing a reliable design for an electric arc lamp.

Days and nights he carried out experiments and drew diagrams in a Parisian workshop, which was provided to the inventor by one of the French companies. The only thought occupied him, no matter what he was doing and no matter where he was.

One day in 1876, when 29-year-old Pavel Yablochkov was waiting for his order in a small cafe, it seemed to dawn on him. Looking at how carefully the waiter laid out the cutlery, the talented engineer found a solution that was brilliant in its simplicity... “Yes, exactly like cutlery, the carbon electrodes should be located in the lamp - not like in all previous designs, but in parallel! Then both will burn out exactly the same, and the distance between them will always be constant. And no regulators are needed here!” thought Pavel Nikolaevich.

The very next year, Yablochkov’s “electric candle” illuminated the Louvre store in Paris. The design of two identical coal rods, insulated with a layer of kaolin and mounted on a stand, indeed resembled a candlestick with candles. The electrodes burned evenly, giving bright light for quite a long time. An “electric candle” cost about 20 kopecks and burned for an hour and a half. It is not surprising that these devices soon went on sale and began to sell in huge quantities. In 1877, the light bulbs of the Russian inventor were lit on the Thames embankment in London, then in Berlin. And after Pavel Nikolaevich returned to his homeland, his “candle” illuminated St. Petersburg.

This was not the only achievement of Pavel Yablochkov. In the 1880s, he successfully developed and tested electric current generators - magnetodynamic machines, galvanic cells with alkaline electrolyte and other electrical devices. Pavel Nikolaevich participated in specialized electrical exhibitions more than once: in Russia in 1880 and 1882 and in Paris in 1881 and 1889, surprising again and again with his inventions. In love with his work, he became one of the founders of the electrical engineering department of the Russian Technical Society and the Electricity magazine in Russia.

Over time, Yablochkov’s invention was replaced by more economical and convenient incandescent lamps with a thin electric filament inside; his “candle” became just a museum exhibit. However, this was the first light bulb, thanks to which artificial light began to be used everywhere: on streets, squares, theaters, shops, apartments and factories.

In 1876, Pavel Nikolaevich read his report on the invention of an electromagnet with a flat winding at the French Physical Society, of which he was elected a member, and in 1878 he demonstrated the invention at the World Exhibition in Paris.

Almanac "Great Russia. Personalities. Year 2003. Volume II", 2004, ASMO-press.