Eric Tigerstedt
| Eric M. C. Tigerstedt | |
|---|---|
| Born |
August 4, 1887 Helsinki, Finland |
| Died | April 20, 1925 (aged 37) New York City, U.S. |
| Occupation | inventor |
| Spouse(s) | Ingrid Lignell |
Eric Magnus Campbell Tigerstedt (August 4, 1887 – April 20, 1925) was one of the most significant inventors in Finland at the beginning of the 20th century and has been called the "Thomas Edison of Finland". He was a pioneer of sound-on-film technology and made significant improvements to the amplification capacity of the vacuum valve. Having seen a showing of the Lumière brothers' new motion picture technology as a 9-year-old boy in Helsinki in 1896, he was inspired to bring sound to silent pictures.
Many years later, in 1914, his demonstration film Word and Picture was presented to a gathering of scientific dignitaries in Berlin, but his invention was never commercialised. In addition to improving the triode vacuum valve, he developed directional loudspeakers. Tigerstedt also predicted such future inventions as television and the mobile phone, and in 1917 he filed a patent for what he described as a "pocket-size folding telephone with a very thin carbon microphone". Tigerstedt was awarded a total of 71 patents in several countries between the years 1912 and 1924.
Tigerstedt was born in Helsinki and started to show a particular interest in all things technical at an early age. He studied his father’s scientific books with great interest, and at age 11 he built a simple photographic device. At age 13, he began experimenting with other technical devices and machines, and he built his own version of an electric motor and electrical batteries. After a falling out with his father, he left home at the age of 15, supporting himself by working as a handyman and technician in mechanical workshops and shipyards in Helsinki. He later worked as a technician in the telephone industry, which was rapidly becoming a major business in Helsinki at that time.
In 1908, Tigerstedt moved to Germany to continue his studies. He completed his high school education and began studies in electrical engineering at the Friedrichs Polytechnikum in Köthen. After completing his studies there in 1911, he moved back to Finland with his fiancée Marjatta Nybom, whom he had met and fallen in love with while in Köthen. She had been studying the violin in Switzerland and met Tigersted through her brother Albert Nybom, who was also studying in Köthen and was a classmate of Tigerstedt. However, the engagement between Tigerstedt and Marjatta Nybom was broken off in 1912.
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