Pavel Nikolayevich Yablochkov (also spelled as Jablochkoff; Russian: Павел Николаевич Яблочков; September 14 [O.S. September 2] 1847 – March 31 [O.S. March 19] 1894) was a Russian electrical engineer and businessman. He invented the Yablochkov candle, which is a type of electric carbon arc lamp.

Biography

Yablochkov graduated in 1866 as a military engineer from the Nikolayev Engineering Institute, now called the Military Engineering-Technical University (Russian: Военный инженерно-технический университет). In 1869, he graduated from the Technical Galvanic School in Saint Petersburg. After working in the army, Yablochkov moved to Moscow in 1873. There, he became the Head of the Telegraph Office for the Moscow-Kursk railroad. He started a workshop for his electrical engineering experiments, which helped him develop future inventions in electric lighting, electric machines, galvanic cells, and accumulators.

Yablochkov’s most important invention was the first model of an arc lamp. This lamp removed the need for complex mechanical parts found in other lights, which required a regulator to control the electric arc. In the same year, he traveled to Paris, where he built an industrial example of the "electric candle" (French patent № 112024, 1876). In Paris, he turned his arc light idea into a full system of electric lighting powered by direct current dynamos from Zénobe Gramme. These dynamos used an inverter to supply single-phase alternating current. The first public use of Yablochkov’s system was in October 1877 at Halle Marengo of the Magasins du Louvre, where six Yablochkov candles lit the space. By 1880, the system had grown to 120 lamps, with 84 lit at a time. These lamps were powered by a 100-horsepower steam engine and had operated every night for two and a half years.

The Paris Exposition of 1878 gave Yablochkov a chance to show his invention to a worldwide audience. With help from Gramme, 64 of his arc lights were installed along the half-mile (0.8 km) length of Avenue de l'Opéra, Place du Théâtre Français (now Place André-Malraux), and around Place de l'Opéra. These lights were first used in February 1878. Yablochkov candles needed high voltage, and soon experimenters found they could power arc lights over a 7-mile (11 km) circuit. Yablochkov candles were better than Lontin-Serrin arc lights, which required a separate Gramme generator for each light. Starting in 1880, the Paris Hippodrome replaced 20 Serrin lights (powered by 20 generators) with 68 Yablochkov candles, using only three generators. The 1878 Paris demonstration caused a drop in gas company stock prices, which did not recover until 1880. French, English, and American businessmen quickly formed companies to use Yablochkov’s patents.

As part of his arc lighting patents, Yablochkov described a method using Michael Faraday’s discovery of induction to create a continuous current of higher voltage. Primary windings were connected to an alternating current source, and secondary windings could power multiple electric "candles." Though not recognized at the time, Yablochkov’s idea of using transformers to provide different voltages from the same AC line became the basis for modern power transmission and distribution systems. The patent stated that such a system "allowed separate supply to several lighting fixtures with different brightness from a single power source." In 1879, Yablochkov founded “Electric Lighting Company, P.N. Yablochkov the Inventor and Co” and built an electrical plant in Petersburg. This plant later produced lights for military ships and factories. His arc lights faced strong international competition. His lights lasted 1.5 hours, while those made by Charles F. Brush lasted

Personal life

Yablochkov was a member of a secret society called Freemasonry. He joined in 1876 as part of a group in France that oversaw Freemasonry in the Scottish Rite. After leading three lodges in Paris, he founded a new lodge named "Cosmos" on June 25, 1887, under the same group. He created this lodge to bring young and wealthy Russian immigrants in Paris into Freemasonry. One member of his lodge was Maksim Kovalevsky, who later helped reintroduce Freemasonry to Russia and laid the foundation for the Grand Orient of Russia's Peoples.

Legacy

In 1947, the USSR created the Yablochkov Award to honor the best work in the area of electrical engineering.

A crater on the Moon is named Yablochkov in his honor.

• A memorial plaque is placed on the front of house number 35, where M. Gorky Street and Yablochkov Street meet in Saratov.
• A monument stands at the grave of P. N. Yablochkov in Sapozhok village, which is in the Rtischevsky district.

Gallery

• A monument located on the tomb of P. N. Yablochkov in Sapozhok village, Rtishchevsky District.
• Yablochkov arc lamps used to light the music hall on Place du Château d'Eau in Paris around 1880.
• The home in Saratov where Yablochkov lived during his final years.
• The Paris Hippodrome around 1881 was illuminated by 128 Yablochkov candles, with each Gramme generator powering about 20 lights.