Narcís Monturiol
| Narcís Monturiol | |
|---|---|
Narcís Monturiol around 1880
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| Born |
September 28, 1819 Figueres |
| Died | September 6, 1885 (aged 65) Sant Martí de Provençals (currently Barcelona) |
| Occupation | Inventor, engineer, artist, politician |
| Known for | Submarine pioneer. Invented the Ictineo I and Ictineo II. |
Narcís Monturiol i Estarriol (Catalan pronunciation: [nərˈsiz muntuɾiˈɔɫ i əstəriˈɔɫ]; 28 September 1819 – 6 September 1885) was a Spanish intellectual, artist and engineer. He was the inventor of the first air-independent and combustion-engine-driven submarine.
Monturiol i Estarriol was born in the city of Figueres, Catalonia, Spain. He was the son of a cooper. Monturiol went to high school in Cervera and got a law degree in Barcelona in 1845. He solved the fundamental problems of underwater navigation. In effect, Monturiol invented the first fully functional engine-driven submarine.
Monturiol never practiced law, instead turning his talents to writing and publishing, setting up a publishing company in 1846, the same year he married his wife Emilia. He produced a series of journals and pamphlets espousing his radical beliefs in feminism, pacifism, and utopian communism. He also founded the newspaper La Madre de Familia, in which he promised "to defend women from the tyranny of men" and La Fraternidad, Spain's first communist newspaper.
Monturiol's friendship with Abdó Terrades led him to join the Republican Party and his circle of friends included such names as musician Josep Anselm Clavé, and engineer and reformist Ildefons Cerdà. Monturiol also became an enthusiastic follower of the utopian thinker and socialist Étienne Cabet; he popularised Cabet's ideas through La Fraternidad and produced a Spanish translation of his novel Voyage en Icarie. A circle formed round La Fraternidad raised enough money for one of them to travel to Cabet's utopian community, Icaria.
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