Auguste Marie Louis Nicolas Lumière (; 19 October 1862 – 10 April 1954) was a French engineer, industrialist, biologist, and illusionist. In 1894 and 1895, he and his brother

Louis Louis may refer to: People * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer Other uses * Louis (coin), a French coin * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also ...

invented an animated photographic camera and projection device, the

cinematograph Cinematograph or kinematograph is an early term for several types of motion picture film mechanisms. The name was used for movie cameras as well as film projectors, or for complete systems that also provided means to print films (such as the ...

, which met with worldwide success.

Life

Lumière was born in

Besançon Besançon (, ; , ; archaic ; ) is the capital of the Departments of France, department of Doubs in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The city is located in Eastern France, close to the Jura Mountains and the border with Switzerland. Capi ...

. He attended the Martinière Technical School and worked as a manager at the photographic company of his father, Claude-Antoine Lumière. He was invited to attend a demonstration of the

Kinetoscope The Kinetoscope is an early motion picture exhibition device, designed for films to be viewed by one person at a time through a peephole viewer window. The Kinetoscope was not a movie projector, but it introduced the basic approach that woul ...

invented by

Thomas Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February11, 1847October18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventions, ...

, which inspired his and his brother's work on the cinematograph. The brothers screened their first film using this device in December 1895, and following the success of this initial venture opened a number of cinemas worldwide. However, Auguste was skeptical of the potential of the device, remarking "My invention can be exploited... as a scientific curiosity, but apart from that it has no commercial value whatsoever". After his work on the cinematograph Lumière began focusing on the biomedical field, becoming a pioneer in the use of

X-rays An X-ray (also known in many languages as Röntgen radiation) is a form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength shorter than those of ultraviolet rays and longer than those of gamma rays. Roughly, X-rays have a wavelength ran ...

to examine fractures. He also contributed to innovations in military aircraft, producing a catalytic heater to allow cold-weather engine starts. He died in

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

, aged 91.

References

External links

* 1862 births 1954 deaths 19th-century French inventors Auguste and Louis Lumière Pioneers of photography French silent film directors {{France-photographer-stub