The fate of outstanding geniuses, including inventors, was often quite complicated. Many of them, despite the importance of their discoveries, were dying in poverty. Unfortunately, this fate was not spared by the great Russian watchmaker Ivan Petrovich Kulibin.
Ivan Kulibin was born in the village of Podnovye, belonging to the Nizhny Novgorod district, on April 21, 1735. His father was a petty merchant and loved his son very much. From childhood, little Ivan began to show interest in various mechanisms, mainly in watches. The little mechanic's room looked like a workshop.
The boy grew up, his hobby became more and more serious. Kulibin Jr. was repairing millstones and other machines without any problems, without ceasing to pay attention to clockwork. The father was very proud of his son, the news of a talented youth spread far beyond their village. Soon, talk of young mechanics spread throughout Nizhny Novgorod, and thanks to the efforts of traveling merchants and beyond.
In 1769, Ivan Kulibin presented his own hand-made watches to Empress Catherine II herself. It was a small pocket watch with a battle and a musical device that reproduced several tunes. Every hour a door swung open in them and dancing little gold and silver men appeared because of it. The empress really liked this gift, and the provincial self-taught master was appointed head of the workshop at the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. Now these watches are stored in the Hermitage.
Under the direction of Kulibin, new inventions began to spread, which greatly surprised his contemporaries: marine compasses and accurate scales, achromatic telescopes, even an achromatic microscope was invented. By a special order of Catherine II, Ivan Petrovich designed an elevator for her, but Potemkin he pleased with the miracles of pyrotechnics, which they could envy even now.
In 1772, Kulibin made projects of an arch bridge across the Neva and for the first time proved the possibility of manufacturing models of bridge structures. Thus, he solved the problem of passing large vessels under them.
Ivan Petrovich Kulibin invented and experienced many things over the years of his life. There were river ships with water-powered engines that can move against the current, and spotlights with reflectors from mirrors, and mechanical carriages with pedals, and an optical telegraph, and a mechanical prosthetic leg, and much more.
But, thanks to innate modesty, Kulibin did not require any large fees for his inventions, he was always content with what they gave. With the change of ruler, some personnel changes took place, Ivan Petrovich, who gave more than thirty years of his life to the Petersburg Academy, was forced to return to Nizhny Novgorod. Most of his inventions, the existence of which confirmed our time, were not realized during the life of a talented mechanic.
Kulibin died in poverty at the age of 83. In order to adequately organize his funeral, relatives had to sell one of the inventions of Ivan Petrovich, namely, his favorite wall clock.
