Gustave Pierre Trouvé (1839–1902)
was a French electrical engineer and inventor in the 19th century.
He was born January 2, 1839 in La Haye-Descartes (Indre-et-Loire, France) and died July 27, 1902 in Paris. A polymath, he was highly respected for his innovative skill in miniaturization.
Youth
Gustave was born into a modest family, his father,
Jacques Trouvé, was a cattle dealer. In 1850, he
studied to be a locksmith in Chinon College, then
in 1854-55 at the École des Arts et Métiers in Angers.
His studies incomplete through poor health, he left
his local region for Paris where he obtained a job
with a clockmaker.
Paris!
From 1865 Trouvé set up a workshop in central Paris
(No. 14, rue Vivienne, visible behind this text)
where he innovated and patented many widely differing applications of electricity, regularly reported on by popular science magazines of the time such as La Nature.
He invented a carbon-zinc pocket-sized battery to power his miniature electric automata - tie-pins and brooches - which soon became very popular with Parisian High Society: "les bijoux lumineux électriques!"
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