Eugenio Barsanti Italian priest, engineer and inventor Date of Birth: 12.10.1821 Country: Italy

1. Biography of Eugenio Barsanti
2. Early Life and Education
3. Collaboration with Matteucci
4. Legacy and Later Years

Biography of Eugenio Barsanti

Eugenio Barsanti was an Italian priest, engineer, and inventor who, together with Felice Matteucci, developed the first version of the internal combustion engine in 1853. Their patent application was registered in London on June 12, 1854, and published in the 'Morning Journal' under the title 'Specification of Eugene Barsanti and Felix Matteucci, Obtaining Motive Power by the Explosion of Gasses', which is confirmed by documents from the 'Fondazione Barsanti e Matteucci' foundation.

Early Life and Education

Nicolò Barsanti, later known as Eugenio Barsanti, was born on October 12, 1821, in Pietrasanta, Tuscany. He grew up as a short, frail child with weak health. His father sent him to a progressive school run by the Piarist Brothers, where he was exposed to a wide range of subjects, including scientific ones, and teachers emphasized respectful treatment of students.

In 1838, Barsanti became a novice and was soon ordained as a priest, taking his father's name, Eugenio. In 1841, he began teaching at the Collegio San Michele in Volterra, where he had the opportunity to develop and test his ideas. It was during a lecture on the explosive properties of hydrogen and oxygen mixture that Barsanti realized the potential of utilizing the energy of explosion in an engine, later named the internal combustion engine.

Collaboration with Matteucci

In Florence, Barsanti met hydraulic engineer Felice Matteucci, who greatly appreciated Barsanti's engine idea, and the two engineers worked together for the rest of their lives. On June 5, 1853, they presented their invention at the Accademia dei Georgofili in Florence. The following year, they patented it in London because the Italian laws at the time were unable to provide sufficient guarantees for international patent protection.

The construction of the engine began in the workshops of Pietro Benini in 1860. In the same year, the Barsanti-Matteucci engine was demonstrated at the National Exhibition of Florence. The engine's main advantage was its use of the reverse force of the piston's motion due to gas cooling, making it much faster than other engines based on the pushing force of the explosion. In 1856, the Italian engineers developed a 5 horsepower two-cylinder engine, and two years later, they built a two-piston engine.

Legacy and Later Years

Barsanti believed that the new engine was a significant improvement compared to steam engines, as it was safer, more compact, and operated at a faster speed. However, it was not fast enough to be used as an automotive engine. The creators envisioned its primary use to provide mechanical energy in factories and on ships.

After some search, the engineers chose John Cockerill's factory in Seraing, Belgium, for mass production of the 4 horsepower engine. Orders for the engines started pouring in from all over Europe. Unfortunately, on April 19, 1864, Barsanti passed away in Seraing from typhoid fever, leaving Matteucci to manage the business. However, Matteucci was unable to handle the company's operations and eventually returned to his first occupation, hydraulic engineering.

When German engineer Nikolaus Otto patented his engine in 1877, Matteucci unsuccessfully attempted to prove that he and Eugenio Barsanti were the true inventors of such an engine.