László Bíró

Early life and family

László Jozsef Biro was born in Budapest, Hungary on September 29, 1899. László Bíró was a Hungarian-Argentine inventor known for creating the first commercially successful modern ball pen. His invention transformed writing and became a widely used tool globally.

Biro was born into a Hungarian Jewish family. His father, Moses Matyas Schweiger, was a dentist. In 1905 the family’s surname was changed from Schweiger to Biro. László had an older brother, György, who later played a key role in his discoveries.

Education and Primary Employment

While specific information about Biro’s further education is scarce, we do know that he pursued a variety of interests and professions. He briefly studied medicine at university but became more interested in hypnosis than conventional medicine. László Bíró worked as a journalist, magazine publisher, sculptor and painter. His experiences shaped his problem-solving approach.

The Invention of the Ballpoint Pen

Bíró’s main contribution came from an observation he made while working as a journalist. He observed newspaper ink drying faster than fountain pen ink at a printing press. This triggered the concept for a new type of writing tool.

In the early 1930s, Bíró commenced working on a pen that would use short-drying ink. With the assist of his brother György, a chemist, he developed a new design that replaced the conventional nib with a tiny ball bearing. This ball would pick up ink from a cartridge and deposit it on paper as it rolled.

László Bíró first exhibited his invention on the Budapest World Fair in 1931. He later patented the ballpoint pen in Hungary in 1938 after which in Argentina in 1943.

Impact and Legacy

Bíró’s invention revolutionized writing. The ballpoint pen, often called a “biro” in many countries, offered several advantages over fountain pens:

• It didn’t smudge while writing
•  didn’t leak at high altitudes
• It could make multiple carbon copies
• Biro pen was particularly beneficial for left-handed writers

The first commercial models of Bíró’s pen were sold in Argentina under the name “Birome,” a blend of the inventors’ names (Bíró and Meyne).

Later precipitation projections

In 1943, Biro and his brother fled Nazi persecution and settled in Argentina at the invitation of President Augustin Justo. There they founded Biro Pens, an Argentinian company that successfully developed ballpoint pens.

In addition to ball point pens, Biro also developed “automatic gear boxes” for cars, which he sold to General Motors. To prove its reliability, he rode a motorcycle fitted with his gearbox on a 700-mile journey to Berlin.

Death oand Legacy

László Jozsef Biro died on October 24, 1985, at the age of 86 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Biro’s legacy lives on not only in the millions of ball pens used around the world but also in the celebration of Inventor’s Day in Argentina, celebrated on his birthday, September 29th.