László József Bíró (; born László József Schweiger; 29 September 1899 – 24 October 1985), Hispanicized as Ladislao José Biro, was a Hungarian-Argentine

inventor An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an ...

who

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A ...

ed the first commercially successful modern

ballpoint pen A ballpoint pen, also known as a biro (British English), ball pen (Hong Kong, Indian and Philippine English), or dot pen (Nepali) is a pen that dispenses ink (usually in paste form) over a metal ball at its point, i.e. over a "ball point". ...

. The first ballpoint pen had been invented roughly 50 years earlier by

John J. Loud John Jacob Loud (November 2, 1844 – August 10, 1916) was an American inventor known for designing the first ballpoint pen. Trained as a lawyer at Harvard College, Loud worked at the Union National Bank in Weymouth, Massachusetts as a cashier. ...

, but it was not a commercial success.

Early life

Bíró was born to a

Hungarian Jewish The history of the Jews in Hungary dates back to at least the Kingdom of Hungary, with some records even predating the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin in 895 CE by over 600 years. Written sources prove that Jewish communities lived i ...

family in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population o ...

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coronation of the Hungarian monarch, c ...

, within the

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

, in 1899 to Mózes Mátyás Schweiger and Janka née Ullmann. After leaving school, he began work as a journalist in Hungary.

Invention of the ballpoint pen

While working as a journalist, Bíró noticed that the ink used in newspaper printing dried quickly, leaving the paper dry and smudge-free. He tried using the same ink in a

fountain pen A fountain pen is a writing instrument which uses a metal nib (pen), nib to apply a Fountain pen ink, water-based ink to paper. It is distinguished from earlier dip pens by using an internal reservoir to hold ink, eliminating the need to repeat ...

, but found that it would not flow into the tip, as it was too viscous. Bolígrafo birome II edit

Bíró presented the first production of the ballpoint pen at the Budapest International Fair in 1931. Working with his brother György, a

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe th ...

, he developed a new tip consisting of a ball that was free to turn in a socket, and as it turned it would pick up ink from a cartridge and then roll to deposit it on the paper. Bíró patented the invention in Paris in 1938. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, Bíró fled the Nazis with his brother, moving to

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

, in 1943. On 17 June 1943, they filed another patent, issued in the US as , and formed ''Biro Pens of Argentina'' (in Argentina the ballpoint pen is known as ''birome'', a portmanteau of the brothers' surname with that of their business partner, Juan Jorge Meyne). This new design was supposedly licensed for production in the United Kingdom for supply to

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

aircrew.

In 1945,

Marcel Bich Marcel Louis Michel Antoine Bich, baron Bich (; 29 July 1914 – 30 May 1994) was an Italian-born, French manufacturer and co-founder of Bic, the world's leading producer of ballpoint pens, lighters, and razors. Early years Bich was born in Tur ...

bought the patent from Bíró for the pen, which soon became the main product of his BIC company. Bic has sold more than 100 billion ballpoint pens worldwide. In November of that same year, promoter

Milton Reynolds Milton Reynolds (1892–1976), an American entrepreneur, was born "Milton Reinsberg" in Albert Lea, Minnesota. He is most famously known for the manufacture and introduction of the first ballpoint pen to be sold in the U.S. market in October 19 ...

introduced a gravity-fed pen to the U.S. market, to try to get around Biro's patent, which was based on capillary action, where fresh ink is drawn out of the reservoir of the pen as ink is deposited on the paper. Because the Reynolds workaround depended on a gravity feed, it did not infringe, but required thinner ink and a larger barrel. The Reynolds Pen was successful for a few years until its reputation for leaking and competition from established pen manufacturers overtook it.

Death and legacy

László Bíró died in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

, Argentina, in 1985. Argentina's

Inventors' Day Inventors' Day is a day of the year set aside by a country to recognise the contributions of inventors. Not all countries recognise Inventors' Day. Those countries which do recognise an Inventors' Day do so with varying degrees of emphasis and on ...

is celebrated on Bíró's birthday, 29 September. A ballpoint pen is widely referred to as a "biro" in many countries, including the UK, Ireland, Australia and Italy. Although the word is a registered trademark, in some countries it has become genericised. On 29 September 2016, the 117th anniversary of his birth,

Google Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...

commemorated Bíró with a

Google Doodle A Google Doodle is a special, temporary alteration of the logo on Google's homepages intended to commemorate holidays, events, achievements, and notable historical figures. The first Google Doodle honored the 1998 edition of the long-running an ...

for "his relentless, forward-thinking spirit".

References

External links

*
Brief biography of Bíró
by Budapest Pocket Guide *

licensed the technology from Bíró and introduced the BIC pen {{DEFAULTSORT:Biro, Laszlo 1899 births 1985 deaths Argentine inventors Argentine Jews Argentine people of Hungarian-Jewish descent Hungarian emigrants to Argentina Hungarian inventors Hungarian Jews Hungarian journalists Naturalized citizens of Argentina People from Buda Pens 20th-century journalists