Václav Prokop Diviš

plaque of Václav Prokop Diviš by Jan Tomáš Fischer (1912–1957) at former Jesuits grammar school building in Jezuitské náměstí square in Znojmo

bust of Prokop Diviš by Jan Tomáš Fischer in front of former Jesuits grammar college in Divišovo náměstí square in Znojmo.

Václav Prokop Diviš (Czech pronunciation: [ˈvaːtslaf ˈprokob ˈɟɪvɪʃ]^[1] 26 March 1698 – 25 December 1765) was a Czech priest, theologian and natural scientist.

"machina meteorologica" invented by Václav Prokop Diviš worked like lightning rod.

Family house of Prokop Diviš, lightning rod on the right.

Diviš was born in Helvíkovice near Žamberk, Bohemia. Between 1750 and 1754, he invented a lightning rod independently of Benjamin Franklin's invention in 1753,^[2] and constructed the first electrified musical instrument in history, the so-called Denis d'or. He died in Přímětice (today part of) Znojmo, Moravia.

Prokop Diviš theatre in Žamberk with lightning rod on the top.

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Reinhard Breymayer. "Bibliographie zu Prokop Diviš". from Friedrich Christoph Oetinger's Die Lehrtafel der Prinzessin Antonia. Hrsg. von Reinhard Breymayer und Friedrich Häußermann. Teil 2. Anmerkungen. Berlin, New York 1977, pp. 431–453

• Luboš Nový (Ed.): Dějiny exaktních věd v českých zemích do konce 19. století. Prague 1961

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Prokop Diviš

• "Procopius Divisch" in Catholic Encyclopedia (Divis died December 25, not December 21 as claimed there)
• Prokop Diviš Memorial.

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