Who is Kulibin briefly. What did Kulibin Ivan Petrovich invent? Inventions of the great Russian mechanic

There are many expressions in Russian that have a double meaning. For example, the expression was: Ah yes, the Kulibin, came up with this"! To understand the meaning of what was said, one must at least know who Kulibin is, and perceive the correct meaning of these commendable words regarding oneself! The inventions of Kulibin Ivan Petrovich amaze with the depth and breadth of thought of that time. He tried to learn all the exact sciences, constantly improving not only his creations, but also other complex technical mechanisms.

Ivan Petrovich Kulibin: a short biography

The life of a Russian inventor covers the period from the end of the 18th century to the beginning of the 19th century. The future scientist was born in Nizhny Novgorod in the family of a tradesman, his father was a flour trader, and this occupation was destined for his son. The young boy did not want to spend his whole life in the market, from an early age he was drawn to mechanics, its practical application in life. He did not attend school, but independently learned to read and write from a deacon. Ivan had a great thirst for knowledge, so he independently learned such sciences as physics and chemistry.

In addition, he learned to play the piano, wrote odes and sang well.

The talents of the future great mechanic began to appear at an early age. Ivan Kulibin convinced his father with his invention that he should choose another profession, and not sell flour.

A little later, I. P. Kulibin designed and presented to Empress Catherine II an amazing watch for that time. She appreciated the invention, and by her order he was transferred to St. Petersburg. For a long time, Ivan Petrovich served at the Imperial Academy of Sciences, was a member of the Free Economic Society, and for a long time headed the work of the Instrumental Chamber at the Academy of Sciences.

For outstanding services, I. P. Kulibin was awarded by Catherine II and Alexander I with cash prizes and was awarded a special gold medal.

Throughout his life, Ivan Petrovich was married three times, the last marriage took place when he was 70 years old. From all marriages with I.P. Kulibin had 11 children: four sons and seven daughters.

Throughout his life, Ivan Petrovich Kulibin worked tirelessly, spending his own funds on his projects, and therefore died in poverty. The grave with the greatest Russian inventor is located in Nizhny Novgorod at the All Saints Cemetery, where a monument to the greatest man is erected.

Inventions of the great Russian mechanic

Kulibin Ivan Petrovich and his inventions amaze with the breadth of their thought and originality. So, the great Russian mechanic designed and modernized the following projects.

Hydraulic water pumping device.

At the age of 13, I. Kulibin created a hydraulic device for pouring water into a pond and pumping excess fluid from a source. The introduction of this device helped to normalize the process of fish breeding in the pond.

Cuckoo-clock.

At that time, he came up with a combination of clock mechanics with sound.

New functional clock.

In the period from 1764 to 1769, he came up with and implemented his rationalization ideas when creating a new watch mechanism. The original was the shape of the clock in the form of a goose egg. The most unique thing is their device. The clock showed not only seconds and hours, but also the seasons and phases of the moon, while they opened every hour, and music played at noon. The dial depicted the Church of the Resurrection.

Spotting scopes, telescope, microscope and electric machine.

An incomplete list of rather complex technical devices that Ivan Petrovich made according to samples.

Project of bridges across the Neva and Volga rivers.

He designed a bridge in one span across the Neva River, while the length of the bridge was assumed to be 298.704 meters (140 sazhens, 1 sazhen - 2.1336 meters). The famous academician Leonhard Euler checked all the calculations of IP Kulibin, noting the accuracy and correctness of all mathematical calculations. After that, he published about it to the Academy of Sciences. Practical tests of the model, which was reduced by 10 times, were carried out on December 27, 1776 in the courtyard of the Academy of Sciences of the Russian Empire. And they were successful.

The project of an iron bridge with three openings across the Volga was perfect.

And in our time, many outstanding engineers speak of the designs of I.P. Kulibin as the most rational, since the bridge is supported by an arch, and the diagonal system prevents it from bending.

Lantern with reflective glass.

I. P. Kulibin improved the lantern by installing reflective glasses, which increased the luminous intensity to 25.5 km. This invention has been used for the light of beacons, lighting of long galleries, etc.

Prototypes of future prostheses.

Ivan Petrovich was the first in the world to develop and begin to make mechanical arms and legs for amputated body parts. This idea of ​​prosthetics was put into practice on a full scale in France after the war with Russia (1812-1813).

Device for opening window panes.

The modern method of opening and closing windows with ropes was the first to be invented by I. P. Kulibin. He proposed to open the windows in the Tsarskoye Selo Palace, which were located high from the ground, with the help of laces.

Room lighting with mirrors.

Ivan Petrovich came up with the idea of ​​illuminating dark rooms and corridors in the Empress's palace with the help of mirrors that enhance daylight.

Unique fireworks.

Created original at that time indoor fireworks, fiery fountains, rockets. When they were launched, there were no traces of gunpowder and smoke left in the room.

The design of the ship, which moved against the current.

At that time, the advanced project of the vessel, which, due to the movement of oncoming water, moved without sails against the current. Such an invention successfully passed all the tests in 1806, and Ivan Petrovich petitioned for the construction of this type of ships in Russia.

And this is not a complete list of inventions of IP Kulibin.

Our compatriot not only invented complex mechanical devices, but also successfully solved other problems related to mechanics. Moreover, other scientists could not cope with such tasks. So he easily solved the following problems:

• repaired the complex mechanism of the machine that demonstrated the movement of the planets at the Academy of Sciences;
• created an automaton that played checkers and gave various advice to visitors;
• designed a device for the safe movement of containers with molten glass in the factory;
• invented and made a lifting machine along a spiral staircase for the Empress, and the chair moved without any ropes and chains;
• solved the problem of launching the ship "Blagodat" with 130 guns on board, which got stuck on the boathouse, and the builders "dropped hands".

Kulibin Ivan Petrovich himself and his were unique for that time. Their projects were based on deep knowledge of the laws of mechanics and physics. Unfortunately, many of the ideas were not implemented.

Ivan Petrovich Kulibin is an outstanding Russian mechanic-inventor of the 18th century. His surname has become a household name, "kulibins" are now called self-taught masters. Ivan Kulibin became the prototype of the self-taught watchmaker Kuligin - the hero of the play "Thunderstorm" by Alexander Ostrovsky.

Ivan Petrovich Kulibin was born on April 10 (21 according to a new style) in 1735 in the village of Podnovye, Nizhny Novgorod district (now this village is part of Nizhny Novgorod) in the family of an Old Believer merchant. Ivan Kulibin kept loyalty to the traditions of the Old Believers all his life: he never smoked tobacco, did not play cards, did not drink alcohol. When Catherine II offered Kulibin to shave off his full beard in exchange for receiving the nobility, Kulibin preferred to remain in the merchant class with a beard.

Ivan Kulibin learned flour trading from childhood, but he was more attracted to various mechanisms, such as bell clocks. Kulibin independently studied mechanics from books, including the works of Mikhail Lomonosov. From the age of 17, Kulibin began to make handicrafts for home and for sale: wooden and copper cuckoo clocks, wooden circles for casting copper wheels, a lathe and other tools. An acquaintance of his father, also an Old Believer merchant Kostromin, drew attention to Kulibin's talent. He gave Kulibin money to make unusual watches to present them to Empress Catherine II. Along with the manufacture of watches for the Empress, Kulibin made an electric machine and a microscope. Finally, on April 1, 1769, Kulibin and Kostromin appeared before Catherine II with a miracle watch. The clock was shaped like an egg, in which small doors opened every hour. Behind them was the Holy Sepulcher, on the sides of the Sepulcher stood two guards with spears. The angel rolled away the stone from the Tomb, the guards fell on their faces, two appeared; the chimes played three times "Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death and bestowing life on those in the tombs" and the doors were closed. From five in the evening until eight in the morning, another verse was already playing: "Jesus is risen from the tomb, as if he had prophesied, give us eternal life and great mercy." The clock mechanism consisted of more than 1000 tiny wheels and other mechanical parts, while the watch was only the size of a duck or goose egg.

After this presentation of home-made miracle watches, Empress Catherine appointed Ivan Kulibin the head of the mechanical workshop of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. For 17 years, Kulibin directed the workshops of the Academy and brought to life his new inventions: a 300-meter single-arch bridge across the Neva with wooden lattice trusses, a searchlight, a mechanical crew with a pedal drive, "mechanical legs" (prostheses), an elevator, a river boat with a water-acting an engine moving against the current, an optical telegraph, a salt mining machine, a device for boring and processing the inner surface of cylinders, and much more.

The Peacock clock was created in the 18th century by the English master James Cox and purchased by Prince Potemkin in disassembled form. The only person in Russia who managed to assemble this watch was Ivan Kulibin. The Peacock clock is still working and is one of the most interesting exhibits of the Hermitage.

Kulibin was married three times, the third time he married a 70-year-old man, and the third wife bore him three daughters. In total, he had 11 children of both sexes.

At the end of his life, Ivan Kulibin became interested in creating a perpetual motion machine and, having spent all his savings on an unrealizable dream, died in poverty on July 30 (August 11, according to a new style), 1818 in Nizhny Novgorod. To raise money for his funeral, Kulibin's widow sold the only wall clock left in the house.

Ivan Petrovich Kulibin. Born on April 10 (21), 1735 in the Podnovie of the Nizhny Novgorod district - died on July 30 (11) August 1818 in Nizhny Novgorod. The famous Russian mechanic-inventor.

My father was a small merchant.

From an early age, he showed himself as a very smart and capable young man. He especially surprised those around him with his mechanical handicrafts and the ability to understand complex mechanisms that he had seen for the first time.

Noting his son's talent, his father sent him to be trained in metalwork, turning and watchmaking, in which Ivan Kulibin quickly achieved great skill. A talented young man was noticed and invited to Nizhny Novgorod. He had a watch shop there. Ivan Petrovich devoted his free hours to the invention of various devices and the design of clockwork.

Having learned that the empress was to visit the city, he decided to surprise her with his watch, which at that time was only for rich people and was very expensive. Enlisting the support of his father's friend, the merchant Mikhail Kostromin, who helped his family and supported him in every possible way, he began work on a watch for the Empress. Since the gift was created for the most august person, the watch also assumed a unique performance worthy of the empress. Work on the clock was carried out for three years from 1764 to 1767. The body of the product is made of silver with gilding and has the shape of a goose egg, inside of which there is a unique mechanism consisting of 427 parts. The clock is wound once a day. The dial of the product is located at the bottom of the egg. For ease of use, the ingenious craftsman designed a special stand for these watches, which made it possible to see the hands of the watch without turning the case over. The clock not only shows the time, but also strikes the hours, half and quarter hours. Also, they contained a tiny automatic theater with movable figures, which played several melodies.

Kulibin presented his unique watch to the Empress, who in 1769 appointed him head of the mechanical workshop of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences.

He supervised the production of machine tools, astronomical, physical and navigational instruments and tools.

By 1772, Kulibin developed several projects for a 298-meter single-arch bridge across the Neva with wooden lattice trusses. He built and tested a large model of such a bridge, showing for the first time in the practice of bridge building the possibility of modeling bridge structures.

In subsequent years, Kulibin invented and manufactured many original mechanisms, machines and devices. Among them - a searchlight with a parabolic reflector of the smallest mirrors, a river boat with a water-powered engine moving against the current. The device of the machine ship was as follows: it had two anchors, the ropes of which were attached to a special shaft. One of the anchors on a boat or along the shore was brought forward 800–1000 m and fixed. The oxen working on the ship rotated the shaft and wound the anchor rope, pulling the ship to the anchor against the current. At the same time, another boat was carrying a second anchor forward - this ensured the continuity of movement. Kulibin came up with the idea of ​​how to do without oxen. His idea was to use two paddle wheels. The current, turning the wheels, transferred energy to the shaft - the anchor rope was wound, and the ship pulled itself to the anchor using the energy of the water. In 1804, in Nizhny Novgorod, Kulibin built a second waterway, which was twice as fast as the burlatsky bark. Nevertheless, the Department of Water Communications rejected the idea and banned funding - the waterways never became widespread.

He built a mechanical carriage with a pedal drive, improved glass polishing for optical instruments.

In 1773-1775, Kulibin, together with the optician Belyaev, designed the first achromatic microscope designed by Euler-Fuss.

In 1791 he made a scooter cart, in which he used a flywheel, a gearbox, and rolling bearings. The cart was set in motion by a person through a pedal mechanism.

He also developed the design of "mechanical legs" - prostheses.

In the mid-1790s, the aging Catherine II instructed Kulibin to develop a convenient elevator for moving between the floors of the Winter Palace. She certainly wanted an elevator chair, and Kulibin faced an interesting technical challenge. It was impossible to attach a winch to such an elevator, open from above, and if the chair was “picked up” by a winch from below, it would cause inconvenience to the passenger. Kulibin solved the problem witty: the base of the chair was attached to a long axis-screw and moved along it like a nut. Catherine sat on her mobile throne, the servant twisted the handle, the rotation was transmitted to the axis, and she raised the chair to the second floor gallery. The Kulibin screw elevator was completed in 1793, and Elisha Otis built the second such mechanism in history in New York only in 1859. After the death of Catherine, the elevator was used by the courtiers for entertainment, and then was bricked up. To date, the drawings and remains of the lifting mechanism have been preserved.

Twice, in 1792 and in 1799, Kulibin mounted the famous Peacock Clock by the English mechanic James Cox, which is constantly exhibited in the Pavilion Hall of the Small Hermitage.

In 1801 he was dismissed from the Academy and returned to Nizhny Novgorod, where he continued his inventive work.

Ivan Petrovich Kulibin, even at an advanced age, was keenly interested in technical innovations. This can be confirmed by the “Excerpt from a letter to the Russian Artist Gladkov (From Nizhny)”, published in the January issue of the “Russian Messenger” for 1810, where Kulibin, who learned about the works of Alexei Filippovich Gladky, writes with admiration to a fellow inventor: “sorry, that I'm so old! otherwise he would have gone to Moscow to hug my brother.”

The vast majority of Kulibin's inventions, the possibility of using which has been confirmed by our time, were not realized then. Outlandish automata, funny toys, ingenious fireworks for the high-born crowd - only this impressed contemporaries. Kulibin gained wide popularity after the publication by P. Svinin in 1819 of the book “The Life of the Russian Mechanic Kulibin and His Inventions”.

His surname has become a household name in Russian: self-taught masters who have achieved great success in their craft are called Kulibins. Streets in many cities of Russia are named after Kulibin.

Ivan Petrovich Kulibin

Personal life of Ivan Kulibin:

Was married three times.

Married for the third time at the age of 70. The third wife bore him three daughters.

In total he had 12 children - 5 sons and 7 daughters. He gave education to all his sons. His sons are known: Alexander Kulibin (1798-1837; Russian mining engineer, local historian, poet, historian of the Altai factories), Pyotr Kulibin, Semyon Kulibin.

At home, Kulibin was conservative. He never smoked tobacco or played cards. Wrote poetry. He loved parties, although they only joked and joked, as he was an absolute teetotaler. At court, among the embroidered uniforms of Western cut, in his long caftan, high boots and full beard, Kulibin seemed like a representative of another world. But at balls he responded to ridicule with inexhaustible wit, endowing him with good-natured talkativeness and inborn dignity in appearance.

Ivan Kulibin seemed to contemporaries an alien from some other world.

In public, he always appeared in an old long-sleeved caftan and wore a long beard, which in the society of the late 18th century looked like real savagery.

At the same time, Kulibin was a cheerful person, he loved the holidays, on which he willingly joked and joked, but at the same time he absolutely did not drink alcohol, did not smoke tobacco and did not play cards.

This man was terribly conservative in everyday life, but with inexhaustible energy he moved scientific and technological progress forward. Here are just some of the inventions of Ivan Kulibin:

• Vodokhod - a vessel moving against the current due to the energy of water;
• A mechanical cart driven by pedals (not quite a bicycle, but also a no less successful vehicle); A miniature pocket watch, inside of which the actual clockwork, the fighting mechanism, a musical apparatus for several melodies and a tiny mechanical theater with movable figures fit - this was one of the very first creations of the inventor, made in 1764 - 1767;
• "Lantern-spotlight with a parabolic mirror reflector" - a unique optical telegraph. For him, Kulibin developed a special code, quite easy to use;
• The project of a unique single-arch bridge across the Neva;
• There is also evidence of the world's first movable prosthetic hand, invented by Kulibin.

Attitude towards Kulibin of others

For more than 30 years, starting in 1769, Kulibin led the mechanical workshop of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. He made machine tools, scientific instruments, outlandish mechanisms. The self-taught mechanic was the author of a number of useful inventions that could be introduced into the economic sphere.

Waterway Kulibina photo

However, the attitude of the royal court and the Russian aristocracy towards Kulibin was different: these people were interested in the master mainly as a joker and joker, a designer of fireworks, mobile toys and other entertainment mechanisms. An example of such a frivolous attitude towards a serious mechanic is the fate of the optical telegraph.

Kulibin's mechanical cart photo

The Academy of Sciences allegedly did not find the funds to build a telegraph line, and after showing the device to the public, the demonstration model was sent to the Kunstkamera for storage. This invention was remembered only in the 1820s under Nicholas I. A telegraph line was built and used for some time to communicate between the emperor and the army; however, quite soon the optical telegraph was supplanted by the more convenient electric telegraph, invented abroad.

What is known about Kulibin

Information about his biography is relatively scarce. It is known that he was born on April 10 (21), 1735 in the village of Podnovye in the Nizhny Novgorod district in an Old Believer family; hence his habit of wearing a Russian caftan and beard, and generally adhering to ancient traditions in everyday life. His father was a small merchant.

clock invented by Kulibin photo

In his youth, Kulibin worked in a metalwork, turning and mechanical workshops, where he acquired the necessary skills. He did not have a standard education, but he was distinguished by unprecedented perseverance and curiosity. Apparently, he began to invent some mechanisms and devices in his youth, which earned him a certain fame.

single-arch bridge project by Ivan Kulibin photo

In 1777, Prince Grigory Potemkin decided to purchase for Empress Catherine an unusual watch by the English master James Cox, made in the form of a moving peacock. Finding watches, buying and shipping took many years. The device arrived in Russia disassembled, and suffered during transportation; some details were missing.

inventions of Ivan Kulibin photo

Kulibin was entrusted with assembling the clock, who by that time had been in charge of the workshop of the Academy of Sciences for many years. Kulibin assembled and adjusted the clock without much difficulty; it happened in 1792. Since then, the Peacock clock has been working without interruption. Today they are exhibited in the State Hermitage and are the only large automaton of the 18th century in the world that has survived to this day unchanged and is in good condition.

Some facts from the life of Kulibin seem mythical. So, in total he was married three times, and the last time he married at the age of 70; this last time, already a very old man, he managed to give birth to three children. In total, Kulibin had 12 children, and their father was able to educate all of them.

Ivan Petrovich died on July 30 (August 11), 1818.

Ivan Petrovich Kulibin (1735-1818)

Russian self-taught mechanic, inventor

Ivan Petrovich was born in Nizhny Novgorod on April 21, 1735, in the family of a poor flour merchant.

Kulibin's father did not give his son a school education, he taught him to trade. He studied with the deacon, and in his spare time he made weather vanes and gears. Everything related to technology worried him greatly, the young man was especially interested in mills and watch mechanisms.

Once Kulibin was sent to Moscow, this trip gave him the opportunity to get acquainted with watchmaking, to purchase tools. Upon his return from Moscow, he opened a watchmaking workshop and began to excel in watchmaking.
Kulibin decided to create a complex watch.

This clock was the size of a goose egg. They consisted of a thousand smallest details, wound up once a day and beat off the allotted time, even half and a quarter.
At the time of the invention of watches, Kulibin was not only a watchmaker, but also a locksmith, toolmaker, metal and wood turner, besides, a designer and technologist. He was even a composer - the clock played a melody composed by him. The mechanic spent more than 2 years to make this wonderful watch.

On May 20, 1767, Empress Catherine II arrived in Nizhny Novgorod. Kulibin presented the clock to the tsarina, as well as those he created: an electric machine, a telescope, a microscope. The queen praised the talent of the inventor.

In 1769, Ivan Petrovich was summoned by the Empress to St. Petersburg and appointed head of the mechanical workshop of the Academy of Sciences with the title of mechanic. And his inventions ended up in the Kunstkamera - a kind of museum established by Peter the Great.
In St. Petersburg, he managed workshops with numerous departments (tool, turning, carpentry, barometric, optical), but he also found time to develop his own inventions.

He designed a wooden single-arch bridge across the Neva.

The commission recognized that it is possible to build according to the Kulibin project. Catherine II ordered to award Kulibin with money and a gold medal. But no one was going to build a bridge.

Kulibin also invented an original lamp, which can be considered a prototype of a modern searchlight.

For this lamp, he used a concave mirror, consisting of a huge number of individual pieces of mirror glass. A light source was placed at the focus of the mirror, the strength of which was increased by a factor of 500 by the mirror.He invented lanterns of different sizes and strengths: some were convenient for lighting corridors, large workshops, ships, were indispensable for sailors, while others, smaller in size, were suitable for carriages.

Another invention is a powered watercraft. For the built ship, Kulibin was awarded five thousand rubles, but his ship was never put into operation.

Kulibin spent money on the creation of new inventions.
In 1791, Kulibin created a three-wheeled scooter.

In the same year, Kulibin designed mechanical legs (prosthesis). Military surgeons recognized the prosthesis invented by Kulibin as the most perfect of all those that existed at that time.

Kulibin developed both a telegraph of an original design and a secret telegraph code. But this idea was not appreciated.
The last dream of the inventor was a perpetual motion machine.

Kulibin died, surrounded by blueprints, working to his last breath. In order to bury him, the wall clock had to be sold. There was not a penny in the inventor's house. He lived and died a beggar.