Zénobe Théophile Gramme (1826 to 1901) was a Belgian electrical engineer who built the first dynamo able to deliver a smooth, strong direct current at industrial scale. A self-taught joiner and model maker, he moved to Paris, improved the dynamo and, with Hippolyte Fontaine, opened a factory that produced the Gramme machine, the Gramme ring and the Gramme armature. A dynamo shown at the Vienna exhibition of 1873 spread the design across Europe. In the same year he and Fontaine found by accident that the machine was reversible and would turn as a motor when fed direct current, giving industry its first usefully powerful electric motor. He was made an officer of the Legion of Honour in 1877 and received the Volta Prize in 1888.
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Source Zénobe Gramme (Wikipedia)Lead, roleQuote, Lead, role
was a Belgian electrical engineer
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1. Zénobe Gramme (Wikipedia)
Lead
He was born at Jehay-Bodegnée on 4 April 1826
Lead, role
was a Belgian electrical engineer
Career
In 1888 he was awarded the last of the valuable Volta Prizes by the French government.
Career, Legion of Honour
He was made an officer of the National Order of the Legion of Honour in 1877.
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