en
Ticket sale
Inventor
I was born in Budapest, as László József Schweiger. I changed my surname to Bíró in 1905. I fled to Argentina because of the antisemitic laws. I am the inventor of biro pens, among other things.
Birth name
Schweiger László József
Born
1899-09-29, Budapest
Deceased
1985-10-24, Buenos Aires
Profession
Inventor
Awards
National Inventors Hall of Fame (2007)
László József Bíró, known in Spanish as Ladislao José Biro, was a Hungarian journalist, painter, and inventor born on September 29, 1899, in Budapest, Terézváros. He is best known worldwide for inventing the ballpoint pen. Born into a Jewish family, his father was Mózes Mátyás Schweiger, a dental technician from Hódmezővásárhely, and his mother was Janka Ullmann, from Kaposvár. The family name was officially changed to Bíró by a decree from the Hungarian Ministry of Interior on February 11, 1905.On November 2, 1931, in Terézváros, he married Erzsébet Schick, who was nine years younger, the daughter of Zsigmond Schick and Anna Honig. On August 20, 1938, László Bíró and his wife converted to Lutheranism. He later moved to Buenos Aires, where he continued his work and became a celebrated figure. He passed away on October 24, 1985.
László Bíró had over twenty inventions, of which only a small portion saw practical application. However, many of his ideas had a significant impact on the work of later inventors. His notable inventions include the ballpoint pen, an automatic transmission, and a ball deodorant. Each of these innovations contributed to advancements in their respective fields and showcased his inventive spirit.
The Dohány Street synagogue is one of Budapest’s touristic highlights as it is the largest synagogue in Europe and the second largest in the world. The synagogue was built in 1859 in the Moorish style and it can seat 3000 people. Its huge size demonstrates the significance and the high economic and cultural standards of the Budapest Jewry of the age.
The temple was designed by Ludwig Förster (1797-1863), a German architect, professor of the Vienna Academy. The clerk of works was the architect Ignác Wechselmann (1828-1903) who later bequeathed his entire wealth to the Institute of the Blind. After Förster left, Frigyes Feszl, the famous architect of the Budapest Vigadó designed the temple’s inner sanctum. The official consecration of the synagogue took place on 6 September 1859. The interior of the synagogue is 1200 square metres, the towers are 44 metres high. There are 1497 seats for men downstairs and 1472 for women in the galleries, altogether the seating capacity of the flat-ceilinged inner space is nearly 3000 people.
Atomic physics
