Alexander Nikolayevich Lodygin
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Alexander Nikolayevich Lodygin (1847 – 1923) (Александр Николаевич Лодыгин in Russian) was a Russian electrical engineer and inventor. In 1867, he graduated from Moscow Military School and soon thereafter retired from the military.
On July 11, 1874, Lodygin was granted Russian patent number 1619 (which he applied for in 1872) for his filament lamp. He also patented this invention in Austria, Britain, France, and Belgium. As a filament, Lodygin used a very thin carbon rod, placed under a bell-glass. In August of 1873 he demonstrated the samples of his electric filament lamp in the physics lecture hall of the Petersburg Technology Institute. In 1873–1874 he conducted experiments with electric lighting on ships, city streets, etc. In 1874, Petersburg Academy of Sciences awarded him with a Lomonosov Prize for his invention of the filament lamp. That same year, Lodygin established “Electric Lighting Company, A.N. Lodygin and Co”.
In the 1890s, Lodygin invented a few types of filament lamps with metallic filaments; some say he was the first scientist to use a tungsten filament. Lodygin is famous for constructing electrical heating appliances, electrical smelting furnaces, furnaces for metal-hardening, respirators etc. He is also known for his works on electric traction and electrification of cottage crafts. In 1899, Petersburg Institute of Electrical Engineering awarded Lodygin with the honorary title of electrical engineer.