One of the people Romania is proud of is Petrache Poenaru, mathematician, inventor, pedagogue and engineer. The Romanian obtained the invention patent for a little machinery receiving the name “portable pen which does not end, which feeds itself alone with ink” – this is how Petrache Poenaru described the first fountain pen in the world - in France, in the year 1827.
“The portable pen which does not end” played an important role in the development of the society, because the invention of the Romanian – the pen with ink tank – replaced the feathers and pens with metal nib. In this way there was not possible anymore to scratch the paper and the ink leakages have been eliminated. 50 years later, in 1884, Lewis Edson Waterman improved the fountain pen.
Petrache Poenaru was born on January 10, 1799, in the locality Băneşti, Vâlcea County, in an aristocratic family. The Romanian inventor attended the secondary school of Obedeanu Church in Craiova. After graduating he worked at the chancellor’s office of the Râmnicu Vâlcea Diocese and then taught Greek at the Metropolitan School in Bucharest.
Petrache Poenaru, the Secretary of the Revolutionary Tudor Vladimirescu
Petrache Poenaru was attracted by the life of haiduks ever since he was a child. This is why he joined them at the age of only 22. The inventor did not know how to use the gun or the knife, but he impressed the revolutionary Tudor Vladimirescu by his intelligence, so he took him as his secretary.
During the time he spent near Tudor Vladimirescu, Petrache Poenaru printed the first Romanian newspaper, “Foaie de Propagandă” (Propaganda newspaper), and, according to some witnesses of those days, the Romanian inventor also created the Romanian tricolour: red, yellow and blue.
Petrache Poenaru was obliged to live the country after the revolution in 1821 was suppressed. Short time later, the inventor born in Vâlcean obtains scholarships in Vienna and Paris. During the time he studied typography and geodesy in Paris, at the Polytechnic School, Poenaru also invented the worldwide first modern fountain pen, the one with ink tank.
Petrache Poenaru is also the first Romanian to make a trip by train, in 1830, when he participated at the inauguration of the first railway, in England. In 1831, the pen’s inventor returned to Romania and started to dedicate himself to the Romanian education.
The name of Petrache Poenaru is also connected to the introduction of the metrical system in Romania. The Romanian inventor became a member of the Romanian Academy in 1870, and five years later he passed away.
Photo: adevarul.ro and stirileprotv.ro
Bibliography:
“Povestea neştiută a românului care a inventat stiloul. Petrache Poenaru, de la secretarul revoluţionarului Tudor Vladimirescu la lider al masonilor” - adevarul.ro/locale/ramnicu-valcea/povestea-nestiuta-romanului-inventat-stiloul-petrache-poenaru-secretarul-revolutionarului-tudor-vladimirescu-lider-masonilor-1_54eecd3f448e03c0fd006fcb/index.html ;
“Petrache Poenaru, românul care a inventat stiloul” - http://www.ziare.com/cultura/documentar/petrache-poenaru-romanul-care-a-inventat-stiloul-1063473
“Petrache Poenaru, “haiducul” român care a inventat primul stilou modern” - stirileprotv.ro/stiri/10-romani-geniali/petrache-poenaru-haiducul-roman-care-a-inventat-primul-stilou-modern-si-drapeul-tricolor.html
“Petrache Poenaru, inventatorul stiloului” - romanidinromania.ro/inventii/petrache-poenaru-inventatorul-stiloului.html
Adriana Mit
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