Dezső Korda (french: Désiré or Desider Korda) (8 January 1864 – 1 April 1919) was a

mechanical engineer Mechanical may refer to: Machine * Machine (mechanical), a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement * Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations of ...

born in

Kisbér Kisbér (german: Beer) is a town in northern Hungary, in Komárom-Esztergom county. It is the administrative centre of Kisbér District. The town was first mentioned in 1277. Royal Stud Kisber was home to the Imperial-Royal Stud where a Thoro ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

. Korda finished his education in 1885 at the Budapest, in ''Royal Joseph Technical University'' (present-day

Budapest University of Technology and Economics The Budapest University of Technology and Economics ( hu, Budapesti Műszaki és Gazdaságtudományi Egyetem or in short ), official abbreviation BME, is the most significant university of technology in Hungary and is considered the world's olde ...

). After that he worked as electrical engineer in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

and Switzerland. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Korda was a lecturer at ETH Zurich for wireless telegraphy and high frequency machines. He invented the

variable capacitor A variable capacitor is a capacitor whose capacitance may be intentionally and repeatedly changed mechanically or electronically. Variable capacitors are often used in L/C circuits to set the resonance frequency, e.g. to tune a radio (therefo ...

with air dielectric, and received in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

a patent for invention on 13 December 1893.George Washington Pierce
''Principles of wireless telegraphy''
McGraw-Hill book company, New York, 1910
p. 114.
(Photo of rotary capacitor of Korda). He was awarded the French

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

in 1907 for his scientific achievements.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Korda, Dezso 1864 births 1919 deaths Hungarian inventors Hungarian mechanical engineers Recipients of the Legion of Honour Engineers from Austria-Hungary Expatriates in France Expatriates in Switzerland