Peter Florjančič (5 March 1919 – 14 November 2020)
was a
Slovene inventor and
Olympic athlete.
[ His successful inventions included the perfume atomiser, and the plastic photographic slide frame.][Phil Cain, ]
Peter Florjancic: Slovenian inventor extraordinaire
', BBC news (2011-04-12)
Life
Florjančič was born in the Alpine town of Bled in the then newly established Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes
The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () has been its colloq ...
, present-day 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 1943, during the German annexation of Slovenia, Florjančič—knowing he would be called up to serve in the ]German Army
The German Army (, 'army') is the land component of the armed forces of Federal Republic of Germany, Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German together with the German Navy, ''Marine'' (G ...
on the Eastern Front—decided instead to join a friend on a fake skiing trip to Kitzbühel
Kitzbühel (, also: ; ) is a town rights, medieval town situated in the Kitzbühel Alps along the river Kitzbüheler Ache in Tyrol (state), Tyrol, Austria, about east of the state capital Innsbruck and is the administrative centre of the Kitzbüh ...
, Austria
Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
. He faked his own death on Hahnenkamm
Hahnenkamm (means "comb (anatomy), comb") may refer to
*Hahnenkamm (Verwaltungsgemeinschaft), a federation of municipalities in Bavaria, Germany
*Hahnenkamm, Greenland, a mountain in the Stauning Alps, Greenland
*Hahnenkamm, Kitzbühel, a mountain ...
, escaping over the border into neutral Switzerland
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
.[ He met his future wife Verena, a ]Swiss
Swiss most commonly refers to:
* the adjectival form of Switzerland
* Swiss people
Swiss may also refer to: Places
* Swiss, Missouri
* Swiss, North Carolina
* Swiss, West Virginia
* Swiss, Wisconsin
Other uses
* Swiss Café, an old café located ...
model and actress, in Zürich
Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...
and they went on to be married for more than 65 years.
Work
While held in an internment camp
Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without Criminal charge, charges or Indictment, intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects ...
as a refugee, he invented a loom that could be used by disabled servicemen.[
In 1950, he moved to ]Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo ( ; ; or colloquially ; , ; ) is an official administrative area of Monaco, specifically the Ward (country subdivision), ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is located. Informally, the name also refers to ...
where he lived for 13 years, invented the perfume
Perfume (, ) is a mixture of fragrance, fragrant essential oils or aroma compounds (fragrances), Fixative (perfumery), fixatives and solvents, usually in liquid form, used to give the human body, animals, food, objects, and living-spaces an agre ...
atomiser, and appeared in an uncredited role in the film '' The Monte Carlo Story''.[ He subsequently lived in a number of countries, including ]Monaco
Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...
, Austria
Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
, Switzerland
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
, Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
, and Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
.
His other successful invention
An invention is a unique or novelty (patent), novel machine, device, Method_(patent), method, composition, idea, or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It m ...
s included a work-out bed and plastic ice skates
Ice skates are metal blades attached underfoot and used to propel the bearer across a sheet of ice while ice skating.
The first ice skates were made from leg bones of horse, ox or deer, and were attached to feet with leather straps. These skates ...
. He also invented the plastic zipper
A zipper (N. America), zip, zip fastener (UK), formerly known as a clasp locker, is a commonly used device for binding together two edges of textile, fabric or other flexible material. Used in clothing (e.g. jackets and jeans), luggage and oth ...
(1948), and the airbag
An airbag is a vehicle occupant-restraint system using a bag designed to inflate in milliseconds during a collision and then deflate afterwards. It consists of an airbag cushion, a flexible fabric bag, an inflation module, and an impact sensor. ...
(1957), neither of which were successful at the time because of the quality of the materials available.[ Both were perfected at later dates by other inventors.
In 2007, Florjančič published his autobiography, ''Skok v Smetano'' (Jump into the Cream). He described himself thus: "I’ve had five citizenships, 43 cars and the longest passport. The profession of inventor forced me to spend 25 years in hotels, four years in cars, three years on trains, a year and a half on airplanes and a year on board of ships."][Marjan Žiberna, ]
Peter Florjančič, inventor
A Cosmopolitan and Vivid Life'', Slovenian Times, (2010-03-08)
In 2011, at 92 years old, and almost blind, Florjančič was still working, and sketching his inventions. He made and lost several fortunes over the course of his career.
Documentary
In 2002, a documentary film by Slovenian film director Karpo Godina was made about Florjančič's life story.Book reviews: Peter Florjančič
MMC RTV Slovenija, 29 August 2007
References
External links
Interview
, in Slovene edition of Playboy Magazine, April 2007
{{DEFAULTSORT:Florjancic, Peter
Slovenian inventors
1919 births
2020 deaths
Ski jumpers at the 1936 Winter Olympics
Olympic ski jumpers for Yugoslavia
Sportspeople from Bled
Slovenian male ski jumpers
Slovenian men centenarians
People who faked their own death