Gramme, Zénobe-Théophile

Zénobe-Théophile Gramme, (born April 4, 1826, Jehay-Bodegnée, Belg.—died Jan. 20, 1901, Bois-Colombes, France), Belgian-born electrical engineer who invented (1869) the Gramme dynamo, a continuous-current electrical generator that gave a major impetus to the development of electric power.

An indifferent student, Gramme preferred to work with his hands. In 1856 he began work in a Paris factory that fabricated apparatus for the infant electrical industry. In 1869 he conceived his continuous-current dynamo and in 1871 showed to the Academy of Sciences a working model that produced much higher voltages than did previous dynamos. Later that year, in partnership with Hippolyte Fontaine, also an inventor, he began manufacturing his dynamo. In 1873 a Gramme dynamo was exhibited at the Vienna exhibition, where it was demonstrated that the device was reversible and could be used as an electric motor.