Gustave Trouvé - a genius you've never heard of...

Well, if you have heard of this guy, I do apologize. In my case, I claim ignorance. Anyways...

Gustave Pierre Trouvé was a French electrical engineer and inventor in the 19th century. A polymath, he was highly respected for his innovative skill in miniaturization.

• When the obligatory concession for his tomb in the cemetery of his native town of Descartes was not renewed, Trouvé’s remains were thrown into the common grave.​
• His archives were destroyed in February 1980 during an accidental fire in the Town Hall.​
• The British Media reportage headlined Trouvé as the inventor of the first electric vehicle.​
• The search for rare surviving examples of his instruments has become worldwide.​
• Gustave Trouvé - Wikipedia​

Gustave Trouvé 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 were incomplete due to poor health.​
• He left for Paris where he obtained a job with a clockmaker.​

From 1865 Trouvé set up a workshop in central Paris where he innovated and patented many widely differing applications of electricity.


1864 Electro-spherical Geissler tube motor
1865 The Lilliputian sealed battery
1865 Electro-medical apparatus
1865 Electro-mobile jewelry
1865 Electric gyroscope
1866 Electric rifle
1867 Electro-medical kit
1869 Liquid-fuelled pantoscope
1870 Device imitating the flight of birds
1872 Portable Military Telegraph
1873 Improved dichromate battery
1874 Explorer-extractor of bullets
1875 Electric almanac or calendar
1875 Portable Dynamo-electric machine
1875 Oxygen spacesuit for balloonists
1877 Simulation of muscle contraction
1877 Electric paperweight
1878 Exploratory polyscopes for cavities of the human body
1878 Telephones and improvement of the microphone
1880 Improved Siemens motor
1881 Manufacture of magnets
1881 Luminous electric jewels
1881 Electric boat
1881 Miniaturized dental drill
1881 Marine outboard motor
1881 Electric tricycle
1883 Underwater lighting.
1883 Trouvé-Hélot frontal headlamp
1883 Electric vehicle headlamp
1884 Electric safety lamp
1885 Electrical apparatus for lighting physiology and chemistry laboratories
1885 Underwater lighting used during the Suez Canal
1886 New system for constructing propellers
1886 Electric siren as an alarm signal
1887 Working model electric helicopter (tethered)
1887 Electric auxanoscope (image projector)
1889 Electric counter
1889 Dynamo electric demonstrator
1889 Improvements to the electric rifle
1889 System for transporting plate glass sheets
1890 Universal dynamometer
1890 Electric lighting for horse-drawn carriages
1890 Electric orygmatoscope for the inspection of geological layers.
1890 Mobile electric-pneumatic streetlamp lighter
1891 Second mechanical bird
1891 Improvements in luminous electric fountains
1892 Electric trigger mechanism for time-lapse photography
1892 Hand-held medical dynamometer
1892 Battery-electric massage instrument for hernia
1893 Electric industrial ventilation system
1894 System for automatic fishing by night.
1894 Electric stunning lance for hunting
1894 Luminous electric jewelry belt
1894 Electric keyboard instrument based on Savart’s wheel
1894 Luminous electric jumping rope
1895 Acetylene domestic lighting
1895 Universal AC/DC electric motor
1895 Improved pedal bicycle
1895 Manual/electric hybrid massaging machine
1897 Device for automatic bottling of acetylene
1897 Device for hermetically sealing containers of acetylene
1897 Windmill toy for hats and canes
1898 Multi-task manual-electric industrial gyratory pump
1899 Carburetor for internal combustion engines
1900 Battery electric inflatable wearable lifejacket
1901 Binoculars for the Navy
1901 Phototherapy instruments
1902 Spring-loaded harpoon gun toy
1902 Propulsion of model boat or submarine by acetylene


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