Étienne Lenoir

Étienne Lenoir (12 January 1822 – 4 August 1900) is French inventor (80 patents) and entrepreneur. Lenoir was awarded the Order of the Legion of Honor and received French citizenship.

 Biography 
Étienne Lenoir was born in Mussy-la-Ville (part of the Belgian Province of Luxembourg). In 1838, he moved to France and in 1870 Lenoir became a resident in Paris.

He was interested in electroplating and made several electrical inventions, including an improved electric telegraph.

On 16 July 1900, Lenoir received an award from the ACF (Automobile Club de France). It was a vermeil plate with the inscription, "In recognition of his great merits as an inventor of the gas engine and builder of the first car in the world."

Étienne Lenoir died in La Varenne-Sainte-Hilaire on 4 August, 1900.

 Lenoir engine 
In 1859, Lenoir invented the first internal combustion engine now known as the Lenoir engine.

Next year he received a patent for "an air motor expanded by gas combustion" from Conservatoire national des arts et métiers, no. N.43624.

In 1863, he created a car on that engine, in 1866 he designed a motorboat.

In 2 years, 143 engines were sold in Paris, and production of Lenoir Gas Engines had begun.

References

Category:French businesspeople
Category:French engineers
Category:Belgian inventors
Category:Recipients of the Order of the Legion of Honour