France Avčin (6 October 1910 – 21 February 1984) was a Slovenian

electrical engineer Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems that use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

inventor An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea, or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an ...

, and mountain safety expert. He was the first post–World War II president of the

Alpine Association of Slovenia The Alpine Association of Slovenia () is the association of volunteer Alpine clubs () providing the conditions for the development and exercising of mountaineering and hill walking in Slovenia and abroad. It is among the Slovenian non-governmenta ...

. He was also a keen

hunter Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products ( fur/ hide, bone/tusks, ...

and

environmentalist Environmentalism is a broad Philosophy of life, philosophy, ideology, and social movement about supporting life, habitats, and surroundings. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of Green politics, g ...

Life

Avčin was born in

Ljubljana {{Infobox settlement , name = Ljubljana , official_name = , settlement_type = Capital city , image_skyline = {{multiple image , border = infobox , perrow = 1/2/2/1 , total_widt ...

in 1910. He graduated with a degree in

electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems that use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

in 1935 from the

University of Ljubljana The University of Ljubljana (, , ), abbreviated UL, is the oldest and largest university in Slovenia. It has approximately 38,000 enrolled students. The university has 23 faculties and three art academies with approximately 4,000 teaching and re ...

where he also worked for a while before the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. In 1943 he joined the

Partisans Partisan(s) or The Partisan(s) may refer to: Military * Partisan (military), paramilitary forces engaged behind the front line ** Francs-tireurs et partisans, communist-led French anti-fascist resistance against Nazi Germany during WWII ** Itali ...

and returned to the University after the war. He died in Ljubljana in 1984 and was buried in the Trenta Valley in the

Julian Alps The Julian Alps (, , , , ) are a mountain range of the Southern Limestone Alps that stretches from northeastern Italy to Slovenia, where they rise to 2,864 m at Mount Triglav, the highest peak in Slovenia. A large part of the Julian Alps is inclu ...

Work

Avčin was an inventor, mountaineer, mountain rescuer and politician. He was an official of the

International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation The International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation, commonly known by its French name Union internationale des associations d'alpinisme (UIAA; ), was founded in August 1932 in Chamonix, France when 20 mountaineering associations met for ...

, acclaimed for his knowledge and work on the mountaineering equipment. He wrote numerous papers, articles and books both on electrical engineering and mountain safety. In 1960, he successfully proposed in Paris that Tesla is used as the

SI unit The International System of Units, internationally known by the abbreviation SI (from French ), is the modern form of the metric system and the world's most widely used system of units of measurement, system of measurement. It is the only system ...

of the strength of a

magnetic field A magnetic field (sometimes called B-field) is a physical field that describes the magnetic influence on moving electric charges, electric currents, and magnetic materials. A moving charge in a magnetic field experiences a force perpendicular ...

. Avčin's inventions include the

magnetic core A magnetic core is a piece of magnetism, magnetic material with a high magnetic permeability used to confine and guide magnetic fields in electrical, electromechanical and magnetic devices such as electromagnets, transformers, electric motors, ele ...

with a changeable air gap, an improvement of the

magnetic lens thumb thumb A subtype of a magnetic lens ( quadrupole magnet) in the Maier-Leibnitz laboratory, Munich A magnetic lens is a device for the focusing or deflection of moving charged particles, such as electrons or ions, by use of the magnetic Lor ...

of the

electron microscope An electron microscope is a microscope that uses a beam of electrons as a source of illumination. It uses electron optics that are analogous to the glass lenses of an optical light microscope to control the electron beam, for instance focusing it ...

, electronic long-distance

speedometer A speedometer or speed meter is a gauge (instrument), gauge that measures and displays the instantaneous speed of a vehicle. Now universally fitted to motor vehicles, they started to be available as options in the early 20th century, and as ...

, and a meter for measuring the path of

ballistic missile A ballistic missile is a type of missile that uses projectile motion to deliver warheads on a target. These weapons are powered only during relatively brief periods—most of the flight is unpowered. Short-range ballistic missiles (SRBM) typic ...

s. He and his collaborator Anton Jeglič also invented an

avalanche beacon An avalanche transceiver or avalanche beacon is a type of emergency locator beacon, a radio transceiver (a transmitter and receiver in one unit) operating at 457 kHz for the purpose of finding people buried under snow. They are widely carrie ...

transmitting at the frequency of 108 MHz, which emitted the sound of a

woodpecker Woodpeckers are part of the bird family (biology), family Picidae, which also includes the piculets, wrynecks and sapsuckers. Members of this family are found worldwide, except for Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Madagascar and the extreme ...

. In their honour, all avalanche beacons in Slovenia are named 'woodpeckers' (, plural: ).

Recognitions

In 1964 he was awarded the

Levstik Award The Levstik Award () is a literary award in Slovenia awarded for achievements in children's literature. It has been bestowed since 1949 by the Mladinska Knjiga Publishing House, making it the first literary award established by a Slovene publishin ...

for his book on his passion for the mountains ''Kjer tišina šepeta'' (Where Silence Whispers).

References

External links

* 1910 births 1984 deaths Slovenian electrical engineers Slovenian mountain climbers Yugoslav Partisans members Levstik Award laureates Yugoslav engineers University of Ljubljana alumni Engineers from Ljubljana Mountain rescue Slovenian inventors Hunters Slovenian environmentalists {{Slovenia-scientist-stub