Léon Bollée (pronounced "le-on boh-lee") was born on April 1, 1870, and died on December 16, 1913. He was a French car maker and inventor.

Life

Bollée's family were well-known bellfounders. His father, Amédée Bollée (1844–1917), was an important leader in the automobile industry and made several cars powered by steam. Both Léon Bollée and his older brother, Amédée-Ernest-Marie (1867–1926), became car makers. The third brother was Camille.

Early invention

In 1885, when he was 14 years old, Léon Bollée, a young inventor, became known for building a type of pedalo.

Calculating machines

In 1887, to help his father, a car maker and inventor, and to avoid mistakes in many calculations needed to make cars, Bollée started working on three calculating machines: the Direct Multiplier, the Calculating Board, and the Arithmographe. Bollée's Multiplier was the second calculator that could multiply directly (the first was made by Ramón Verea), and it won a gold medal at the 1889 Paris Exposition. Bollée created three versions of the large multiplier and many smaller machines. These devices were given patents in France, Belgium, Germany, the USA, and Hungary.

Transport

In 1892, Léon Bollée and his father, Amédée Bollée, built a steam locomotive for the Chemin de fer du Finistère.

Bollée and his father entered a steam car called La Nouvelle in the 1895 Paris–Bordeaux–Paris race. Bollée later created a gasoline-powered vehicle in 1895, which was entered in the 1896 Paris–Marseille–Paris race.

In 1895, Bollée started a company called Léon Bollée Automobiles in Le Mans. In 1896, he patented and began making three-wheeled vehicles he had designed in 1895, which he named the Voiturette.

The passenger seat, located at the front of the Voiturette, earned it the nickname "Mother-in-law killer" ("Tue Belle-mère" in French). These vehicles had a horizontal engine and used rubber tires. A new version with many changes was tested in the 1897 Paris-Dieppe race and the Paris-Trouville race. Paul Jamin drove the car in both events, winning with speeds of 24 mph (39 km/h) and 28 mph (45 km/h).

In April 1898, Bollée won the "Critérium des Motocycle" in France.

In 1903, Bollée created his first large car. The company made two 4-cylinder models: one with a 28hp 4.6-liter engine and another with a 45hp 8-liter engine. Both vehicles won the "Blackport Southport Speed Trials" in September 1904, competing against Dorothy Levitt’s Gladiator.

In 1908, when Wilbur Wright visited France to demonstrate the Wright Brothers’ aircraft, Bollée allowed Wilbur to use his Le Mans automobile factory. Bollée’s wife, Carlotta (née Messinisi), who was fluent in Greek, French, and English, translated during technical discussions between Wilbur and French engineers. She was heavily pregnant at the time. To honor her, Wright promised that his first French flight would occur on 8 August 1908, the day his baby was expected. Baby Elisabeth was born on 9 August, and Wilbur Wright became her godfather. Carlotta Bollée flew for the first time on 8 October 1908, alongside Wright. Her flight reached an altitude of about 25 meters and lasted four minutes.

In 1911, Bollée was injured in a flying accident and never fully recovered from his injuries or a pre-existing heart condition. He died in 1913. In 1920, after Wilbur Wright’s death, Carlotta Bollée traveled to America to visit the Wright family. She gave them an album and memorabilia from Wilbur’s time with her family. In 1927, she donated an engine to the Museum of Le Mans. The engine had been reassembled by Wilbur Wright and her husband using parts originally sent from the United States. Madame Bollée continued to manage the company successfully until 1924, when it was bought by Morris Motors. The company was renamed Morris-Léon Bollée to sell Morris designs in France and avoid French import restrictions. In 1931, Morris sold the company to a group of investors, who renamed it Societé Nouvelle Léon Bollée. Production continued until 1933.

Family

Élisabeth Bollée, the daughter of Bollée and a poet, married Count Jean Maurice Gilbert de Vautibault in 1927. She later divorced de Vautibault and married the artist Julien Binford. She published her work under the name Élisabeth de Vautibault and died on July 11, 1984.