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Béla Barényi
Hungarian engineer and inventor / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Béla Barényi (1 March 1907, Hirtenberg, Austro-Hungarian Monarchy – 30 May 1997, Böblingen, Germany) was an ethnic Hungarian engineer from Austria-Hungary,[1] who was a prolific inventor, sometimes even compared to Thomas Edison. Barényi made numerous crash protection inventions, and is therefore regarded as the father of passive safety in automotive design.[2][3]
Béla Barényi | |
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Born | (1907-03-01)1 March 1907 |
Died | 30 May 1997(1997-05-30) (aged 90) |
Nationality | Austrian German |
Education | Privatfachschule für Maschinenbau und Elektrotechnik, Vienna, Austria |
Occupation(s) | Inventor, Engineer |
Relatives | Friedrich Barényi (aviation pioneer) - brother Fridolin Keller (industrialist) - grandfather Seraphin Keller (industrialist) - great-grandfather |
Barényi is also credited with first conceiving the original design for the German people's car (the Volkswagen Beetle) in 1925,[3] – notably by Mercedes-Benz, on their website, including his original technical drawing,[4] – five years before Ferdinand Porsche claimed to have made his initial version.[5]
Barényi was inducted into the Detroit Automotive Hall of Fame in 1994,[6][7] and nominated for the award of Car Engineer of the Century in 1999.
Barényi died in Böblingen, Germany in 1997. A Mercedes advertisement featuring Barényi’s image stated: “No one in the world has given more thought to car safety than this man.” Béla Barényi left a broad record of his inventions to the Technisches Museum Wien in Vienna in his native country.[8]