Václav Prokop Diviš
Encyclopedia
Czech people
Czechs, or Czech people are a western Slavic people of Central Europe, living predominantly in the Czech Republic. Small populations of Czechs also live in Slovakia, Austria, the United States, the United Kingdom, Chile, Argentina, Canada, Germany, Russia and other countries...
priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
, theologian and natural scientist.
Diviš was born March 26 1698 in Helvíkovice
Helvíkovice
Helvíkovice is a village in the Pardubice Region of the Czech Republic, formerly part of Žamberk. It has around 430 inhabitants.- Notable people :* Prokop Diviš - catholic priest and lightning rod inventor...
, Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
(now Ústí nad Orlicí District
Ústí nad Orlicí District
Ústí nad Orlicí District is a district within Pardubice Region of the Czech Republic. Its capital is city Ústí nad Orlicí. The district has borders with Pardubice District to the west, Svitavy District to the south and Chrudim District to the southwest.-External links:*...
, Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
). It has been claimed that the lightning rod
Lightning rod
A lightning rod or lightning conductor is a metal rod or conductor mounted on top of a building and electrically connected to the ground through a wire, to protect the building in the event of lightning...
he erected in 15 June 1754 was invented independently of Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin
Dr. Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat...
, but this has been disputed by other scholars. He also constructed the first electrified musical instrument in history, the so-called Denis d'or
Denis d'or
The Denis d'or is, in the broadest sense, the first electric musical instrument in history.It was invented and constructed by the Czech theologian Václav Prokop Diviš — his surname is pronounced "Deevish" and often spelled "Divisch" — at his parish in the Moravian town Přímětice near...
.He died December 25 1765 in Přímětice
Znojmo
Znojmo is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic, near the border with Lower Austria, connected to Vienna by railway and road . The royal city of Znojmo was founded shortly before 1226 by King Ottokar I on the plains in front of Znojmo Castle...
(today part of) Znojmo
Znojmo
Znojmo is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic, near the border with Lower Austria, connected to Vienna by railway and road . The royal city of Znojmo was founded shortly before 1226 by King Ottokar I on the plains in front of Znojmo Castle...
, Moravia
Moravia
Moravia is a historical region in Central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, and one of the former Czech lands, together with Bohemia and Silesia. It takes its name from the Morava River which rises in the northwest of the region...
.
External links
- "Procopius Divisch" in Catholic Encyclopedia (Divis died December 25, not December 21 as claimed there)
- Prokop Diviš Memorial.