Eugenio Barsanti (12 October 1821 – 19 April 1864), also known as Nicolò, was an Italian engineer and Catholic priest. He worked with Felice Matteucci to create the first internal combustion engine in 1853. Their patent was approved in London on June 12, 1854. The patent was published in London's Morning Journal with the title "Specification of Eugene Barsanti and Felix Matteucci, Obtaining Motive Power by the Explosion of Gasses," according to the Fondazione Barsanti e Matteucci.

Biography

Barsanti was born in Pietrasanta, Tuscany. He was small in size and studied at a Catholic school focused on science near Lucca, Tuscany. In 1838, he joined the novitiate of the Piarist Fathers, also known as the Scolopi, in Florence. This religious order was known for encouraging scientific study.

In 1841, Barsanti began teaching at Collegio San Michele in Volterra. During a lesson explaining the explosion of mixed hydrogen and air, he realized the possibility of using the energy from burning gases to power a machine.

Later, while teaching at a higher-level school in Florence, he met Matteucci. Matteucci supported the idea of the engine, and the two worked together on it for the rest of their lives.

On June 12, 1854, they patented their invention in London because Italian laws at the time did not provide strong international patent protection. The prototype was built in the 1860s.

The main advantage of the Barsanti-Matteucci engine was its use of the force created when the piston cooled after the gas expanded. Other engines, like the one made by Etienne Lenoir of France, relied only on the force from the explosion and were slower. The Barsanti-Matteucci engine was more efficient and earned a silver medal from the Lombardy Institute of Science.

In 1856, Barsanti and Matteucci created a two-cylinder 5 HP motor. Two years later, they built a counter-working two-piston engine.

Barsanti believed the new engine was a major improvement over the steam engine. It was safer, simpler, and faster to operate. The engine was intended for use in factories and for ship movement but was too heavy for cars.

After searching, Barsanti and Matteucci chose the John Cockerill foundry in Seraing, Belgium, to mass-produce a 4 hp engine. Soon after, orders came from many European countries.

Barsanti died suddenly in Seraing from typhoid fever on March 30, 1864. Matteucci was left to manage the business alone. The engine project failed, and Matteucci returned to his work in hydraulics.

When Nicolaus Otto patented his engine, Matteucci tried but failed to prove that he and Barsanti had created the first version.

Many documents about the Barsanti-Matteucci engine’s patents are kept in the archive of the Museo Galileo library in Florence.