Felice Matteucci was an Italian hydraulic engineer born on February 12, 1808, and died on September 13, 1887. He worked with Eugenio Barsanti to create an internal combustion engine. Their patent was approved in London on June 12, 1854. The patent was published in the London Morning Journal with the title "Specification of Eugene Barsanti and Felix Matteucci, Obtaining Motive Power by the Explosion of Gases." This information is recorded by the Fondazione Barsanti e Matteucci.

Biography

Matteucci was born in Lucca, Tuscany. He studied hydraulic and mechanical engineering first in Paris and later in Florence. In 1851, he met Father Barsanti and learned about his ideas for a new kind of engine. Together, they worked to create a version of the engine that could be made in large numbers. A model suitable for mass production was developed, and its construction was assigned to Bauer & Co. of Milan, also known as Helvetica. The company completed the motor and delivered it in early 1863.

The engine was more efficient than the steam engine, and its success led to many orders from places as far as Constantinople. Matteucci and Barsanti agreed to produce the motor with a company in Belgium. Barsanti traveled to Belgium on February 18, 1864, to supervise the work. However, Barsanti died suddenly on April 19, 1864, and their project ended.

Matteucci returned to his work as a hydraulic engineer. He researched new hydrometers (tools to measure river levels), rain gauges, and methods for managing water flow over rivers.

In 1877, Matteucci claimed he and Barsanti were the original inventors of the internal combustion engine. The patent held by Nicolaus August Otto was very similar to the Barsanti-Matteucci engine. This situation upset Matteucci, contributing to his illness, which eventually caused his death in his home in Capannori, near Lucca. Records about the priority of the Barsanti-Matteucci engine and their patents in England, Piedmont, France, Belgium, and Prussia are stored in the archives of the Museo Galileo library in Florence.

Works

• Matteucci, Felice (1874). About two automatic tools that continuously draw curves showing rainfall and changes in river water levels. Roma: Stabilimento Giuseppe Civelli.
• Matteucci, Felice (1875). Spillways to control river floods. Firenze: Tipografia Bencini.