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Josip Belušić (; 12 March 1847 – 8 January 1905) was a Croatian inventor. He was born in the small settlement of Županići, in the region of
Labin Labin (Italian language, Italian/Istriot language, Istriot: Albona) is a town in Istria, west Croatia, with a town population of 5,806 (2021) and 10,424 in the greater municipality (which also includes the small towns of Rabac, Rabac-Porto Albona a ...
,
Istria Istria ( ; Croatian language, Croatian and Slovene language, Slovene: ; Italian language, Italian and Venetian language, Venetian: ; ; Istro-Romanian language, Istro-Romanian: ; ; ) is the largest peninsula within the Adriatic Sea. Located at th ...
, and schooled in
Pazin Pazin (, ) is a town in western Croatia, the administrative seat of Istria County. It is known for the medieval Pazin Castle, the former residence of the Istrian margraves. Geography The town had a population of 8,638 in 2011, of which 4,386 li ...
and
Koper Koper (; ) is the List of cities and towns in Slovenia, fifth-largest city in Slovenia. Located in the Slovenian Istria, Istrian region in the southwestern part of the country, Koper is the main urban center of the Slovene coast. Port of Koper i ...
. Belušić continued his studies in
Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
, later resettling in
Trieste Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...
before coming back to Istria, where he built his best known invention, the
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 ...
. After completing his studies, Belušić was employed as a professor of physics and mathematics at the Royal School of Koper. Later, he became director of the Maritime School of Castelnuovo, and was employed as an assistant professor in that institution. In 1887 Belušić publicly experimented for the first time with his new invention, an electric
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 ...
. The invention was patented in
Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...
under the name of ''Velocimeter''. Belušić exhibited his invention at the 1889 Exposition Universell in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
, renaming it ''Controllore automatico per vetture''. In the same year, the Municipality of Paris announced a public competition, and over 120 patents were registered to compete. His design won as the most precise and reliable and was accepted in June 1890. Within a year, a hundred devices were installed on Parisian carriages. In 1889, the Croatian newspaper '' Naša sloga'' predicted that " elušić's inventionwill spread all over the world, and with it the name of our virtuous Istrian, friend and patriot." Belušić's invention was also the first monitoring device in history, a forerunner of measuring monitoring devices used today in trucks, buses and taxis. Thus, Belušić is also credited as the father of monitoring and surveillance devices.


Birth date, death date and nationality

Belušić was born on March 12, 1847, in the small village of Županići, on the outskirts of
Labin Labin (Italian language, Italian/Istriot language, Istriot: Albona) is a town in Istria, west Croatia, with a town population of 5,806 (2021) and 10,424 in the greater municipality (which also includes the small towns of Rabac, Rabac-Porto Albona a ...
,
Istria Istria ( ; Croatian language, Croatian and Slovene language, Slovene: ; Italian language, Italian and Venetian language, Venetian: ; ; Istro-Romanian language, Istro-Romanian: ; ; ) is the largest peninsula within the Adriatic Sea. Located at th ...
, then part of the
Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...
(now in
Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...
). Županići is closer to Sveta Nedelja than Labin, and in fact today it is part of the former's municipality. There is some debate surrounding Belušić's place of death, with the ''Croatian Technical Encyclopedia'' leaning toward
Trieste Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...
. He died on January 8, 1905. Belušić was 57 years old at the time of his death. He was an ethnic Croat born in
Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...
.


Early life and education

Little is known about Belušić's early life. He was born to Marin Belušić and Katarina Ružić. Belušić spent his childhood in Županići, and was educated in nearby
Pazin Pazin (, ) is a town in western Croatia, the administrative seat of Istria County. It is known for the medieval Pazin Castle, the former residence of the Istrian margraves. Geography The town had a population of 8,638 in 2011, of which 4,386 li ...
(5 miles northeast of Županići) and
Koper Koper (; ) is the List of cities and towns in Slovenia, fifth-largest city in Slovenia. Located in the Slovenian Istria, Istrian region in the southwestern part of the country, Koper is the main urban center of the Slovene coast. Port of Koper i ...
(today
Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...
). In Pazin, the school's priests who tended to him were the first to notice his talent for the natural sciences. Belušić later enrolled in the Higher State Gymnasium of Koper. The Koper high school had eight classes. The official languages of the institution were
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
and
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
. In the upper grades, there were also elective courses in the Slavic language. As a state grammar school, the institution was loyal to the Monarchy and the
emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...
. According to its curriculum, religious education, Italian, German,
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
and mathematics were studied in all eight grades. Elective courses included Slavic language, drawing and poetry, and starting from 1901 physical education. Slavonic as an elective course was introduced in the school programme in 1867. In the school year 1865/66, Belušić completed the 6th grade. In that year, 161 students attended the grammar school, of which 149 were Italians and 12 were Slavs. According to the official census and the directory from that year, Josip Belušić was especially praised in the 6th grade, and his class finished with the best results in the class rank. During his high school education, Belušić also earned himself a
scholarship A scholarship is a form of Student financial aid, financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, Multiculturalism, diversity and inclusion, athleti ...
. He received 100 forints from the Province and 40 forints from the provincial governorship. His conduct, grades and attendance were assessed as impeccable throughout his higher education. His courses were Latin,
Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
, Italian and German,
geography Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...
and
history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...
,
mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...
,
physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...
. As elective courses he chose
Slavic language The Slavic languages, also known as the Slavonic languages, are Indo-European languages spoken primarily by the Slavic peoples and their descendants. They are thought to descend from a proto-language called Proto-Slavic, spoken during the Ear ...
and
philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
. In 1875, having finished his studies, he was employed as a professor of physics and mathematics at the imperial teacher-training school of Koper, where he taught to the school's male students. Belušić taught both in German and Italian. According to a 1900 report from the Imperial and Royal Academy of Koper, Professor Belušić passed the professional exam for obtaining the title of professor in Trieste. He then became the director of the Maritime School of Castelnuovo, near Trieste, and received the title of assistant professor in that institution. In all documentary record, it is always stated that "Josip Belušić from St. Martin near Labin," was a Croatian and a Catholic. The same documentation also shows that in 1875, when he was employed at the Academy, he was a bachelor. Belušić later did marry. However, no further information about his family has been uncovered. It remains unclear where and how he died.


Velocimeter

On February 7, 1889, the Croatian newspaper ''Naša sloga'' wrote about a new invention by Professor Belušić, for which he was granted property right by the sovereign authority of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. Foretelling a bright future, Belušić reportedly stated:
It is a small apparatus that, as a faithful servant, controls every move which the coachman makes with the horses and the carriage entrusted to him. Through electricity, this machine records whether the carriage is standing or moving and how fast it is moving; when the carriage began to move, and when it stopped. In addition, it records whether the carriage was empty or whether there was a person in it; further, it states how many people were aboard, at what time each person entered the carriage and got out of it; thence, how many minutes each person rode in the carriage.
The official presentation of Belušić's invention and the first experiment took place in 1887. A second test, in late February 1889, was attended by four journalists who actively participated in the experiment on the route Trieste - Sveti Bartol. During the experiment, the carriage stopped several times; the journalists got out of the carriage and entered it again. On the way back to Trieste, they looked at what the velocimeter had registered. The journalists were delighted with the accuracy of the device, which recorded all the actions taken by the carriage on round-format paper. The velocimeter electronically measured the speed of the vehicle, the duration of the ride, and the standing of the car; the number of carried individuals, and the passengers' time of entry and exit. Thus, Belušić's device was also a
tachograph A tachograph is a device fitted to a vehicle that automatically records its speed and distance, together with the driver's activity selected from a choice of modes. The drive mode is activated automatically when the vehicle is in motion, an ...
and a
taximeter A taximeter or fare meter is a mechanical or electronic device installed in taxicabs and auto rickshaws that calculates passenger fares based on a combination of distance travelled and waiting time. Its shortened form, "taxi", is also a meton ...
, a forerunner of measuring monitoring devices used today in
trucks A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport freight, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construction ...
,
buses A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a motor vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van, but fewer than the average rail transport. It is most commonly used ...
and
taxicabs A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice ...
. For this reason, Belušić is also considered the father of monitoring and surveillance devices. Belušić applied for a patent with the State Patent Office of Vienna in 1888, under the name ''Controllore automatico per vetture'', because his device had other functions beside measuring speed. As mentioned, his device used electrical energy, measured the speed of the vehicle, and recorded the driving time and standing of the vehicle, the number of passengers and the passengers' time of entry and exit. The original patent is kept in the State Archives of Vienna. A copy of the patent is also housed at the Police Museum in
Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...
. It is not known how Belušić's invention wound up. The inventor probably had to invest more money to perfect his invention and then put it on the market. Belušić did not benefit of much funding, so his work fell into oblivion. Documents from the State Archives of Trieste testify to the founding of a company with the aim of presenting Belušić's invention in Paris, as well as Belušić's financial trouble and problems with his business partner. In the U.S. Patent Office's archives there is a copy of the original patent, a patent application dated December 16, 1890, and a report from the Patent Commission showing that fifty-six foreign inventors were included in the office's database in 1890. Among those registered in that year, under the patent application number 442849, there is Professor Belušić. Belušić's witnesses for his patent were Edmund J. Ussen and Otto Schiffer.


Exposition Universelle of 1889

Belušić exhibited his velocimeter at the 1889 Exposition Universelle in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
. The Exposition attracted twenty-eight million visitors and over sixty-eight thousand exhibitors, including many of the world's noted inventors and artists of the day. Although the main attractions of the exposition were the premiere of the
Eiffel Tower The Eiffel Tower ( ; ) is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower from 1887 to 1889. Locally nicknamed "''La dame de fe ...
and the opening of the colossal pavilion built for the exhibition, the
Galerie des machines The Galerie des machines (officially: Palais des machines) was a pavilion built for the 1889 Exposition Universelle in Paris. Located in the Grenelle district, the huge pavilion was made of iron, steel and glass. A similarly-named structure wa ...
(by far the largest vaulted building to have yet been built), Belušić's velocimeter also drew attention. Belušić was awarded a diploma and gold medal by the French Academy of Inventors, which also named him an honorary member. At the same time, the city council of Paris announced a public tender for monitoring the transportation service offered by city carriages. The council was determined to put an end to the constant doubts over the honesty of the coachmen. One hundred twenty-nine inventors applied for the competition, and three applicants were shortlisted, including Belušić. Field tests were scheduled for December 1889, and, in the end, Belušić's device was chosen because, in addition to measuring speed, it accurately reported the departure time of the carriage, how many times and for how long the carriage stopped.


Later life

It remains unclear how Belušić's invention wound up. As mentioned, the inventor probably had to invest more money to perfect his invention, and later put it on the market. Little is known about Belušić's later life. He had become a professor of physics and mathematics at the teacher-training college of Koper, where he worked until 1900, and later the director of a maritime school in Italy. It remains unclear, however, where he spent his last years. Some speculate that the Croatian inventor sold his patent rights due to poverty. The ''Croatian Technical Encyclopedia'' reports that he died in Trieste.


References


Bibliography

* * Ageorges, Sylvain (2006), ''Sur les traces des Expositions Universelles'' (in French), Parigramme. * * Johan Markelj, Bericht der K.K. Lehrerbildungs- Austalt in Capodistria veröffentlicht am schlusse des schuljares 1899. / 1900., pp. 72; 89. * Giacomo Babuder, Atti dell' I. R. ginnasio superiore di Capodistria, Anno scolastico 1865/66., Tipografia di Giuseppe Tondelli, 1866.


External links


Belušić's official US patent with description and pictures at Google Patents

Josip Belušić at the Croatian Technical Encyclopedia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Belusic, Josip Croatian inventors People from Istria 1847 births 1905 deaths Croatian scientists Croatian physicists Physicists from Austria-Hungary Inventors from Austria-Hungary