Gideon Sundback

Otto Fredrik Gideon Sundbäck (April 24, 1880 – June 21, 1954) was a Swedish-American electrical engineer, who is most commonly associated with his work in the development of the zipper.^[1]

Gideon Sundback
Sundback circa 1920
Born	Otto Fredrik Gideon Sundbäck (1880-04-24)April 24, 1880 Ödestugu Parish, Jönköping County, Småland, Sweden
Died	June 21, 1954(1954-06-21) (aged 74) Meadville, Pennsylvania, United States
Resting place	Greendale Cemetery
Nationality	Swedish-American
Occupation	Electrical engineer
Known for	Invention of the zipper
Spouse	Elvira Aronson ​ (m. 1909)​

Background

Otto Fredrik Gideon Sundbäck was born on Sonarp farm in Ödestugu Parish, in Jönköping County, Småland, Sweden. He was the son of Jonas Otto Magnusson Sundbäck, a prosperous farmer, and his wife Kristina Karolina Klasdotter. After his studies in Sweden, Sundbäck moved to Germany, where he studied at the polytechnic school in Bingen am Rhein, graduating in engineering in 1903. In 1905, he emigrated to the United States.^[2][3][4]

Personal

On June 5, 1909, Sundbäck married (Naomi) Elvira Aronson, daughter of the Swedish-born plant manager Peter Aron Aronson (Aronsson), in Hoboken, New Jersey.^[5]

Legacy

In 2006, Sundbäck was honored by inclusion in the National Inventors Hall of Fame for his work on the development of the zipper.^[6][7] On April 24, 2012, the 132nd anniversary of Sundbäck’s birth, Google changed the Google logo on its homepage to a Google Doodle of the zipper, which when opened revealed the results of a search for Gideon Sundbäck.^[8]

1917 patent

Sundbäck's U.S. patent 1,219,881 (filed in 1914, issued in 1917):

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