Question: who said necessity is the mother of invention

title: Necessity is the mother of invention
text: The author of this proverb is unknown . This phrase was familiar in England , but in Latin , not in English . In 1519 , the headmaster of Winchester and Eton , William Horman , used the Latin phrase Mater artium necessitas in his book Vulgaria . In 1545 Roger Ascham used a close English version , Necessitie , the inuentour of all goodnesse , in his book Toxophilus . In 1608 , George Chapman , in his two - part play The Conspiracy and Tragedy of Charles , Duke of Byron , used a very similar phrase : The great Mother , Of all productions ( graue Necessity ) . But , the earliest actual usage of the proverb Necessity is the mother of invention is sometimes ascribed to Richard Franck , who used it in his book Northern Memoirs , calculated for the meridian of Scotland ( 1658 ) . Plato in book 2 of The Republic wrote `` Then , I said , let us begin and create in idea a State ; and yet the true creator is necessity , who is the mother of our invention . '' 

Answer: answer: The author of this proverb is unknown. In 1519, the headmaster of Winchester and Eton , William Horman , used the Latin phrase Mater artium necessitas in his book Vulgaria. But, the earliest actual usage of the proverb Necessity is the mother of invention is sometimes ascribed to Richard Franck, who used it in his book Northern Memoirs, calculated for the meridian of Scotland (1658).