Eduard Penkala was born in
Liptószentmiklós (now Liptovský Mikuláš in
Slovakia), then part of
Austria-Hungary, to Franciszek Pękała, who was of Polish heritage, and Maria Pękała (née Hannel), who was of Dutch descent. He attended the
University of Vienna and
Royal Saxon Polytechnic Institute, graduating from the latter on March 25, 1898, and going on to earn a
doctorate in
organic chemistry. During his studies, he attended violin lessons where he met his future wife, pianist Emily Stoffregen. He then moved with his wife to
Zagreb (which was then in the
Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia). To mark his loyalty to his new homeland, he took on the Croatian name Slavoljub (
Croatian for "
slavophile"), becoming a naturalized
Croat. He became renowned for further development of the
mechanical pencil (1906) - then called an "automatic pencil" - and the first solid-ink
fountain pen (1907). On 24 January
1906 he registered the patent for an automatic pencil. Collaborating with an entrepreneur by the name of
Edmund Moster, he started the
Penkala-Moster Company and built a pen-and-pencil factory that was one of the biggest in the world at the time. As the business grew, a second factory was set up in Berlin. The company, now called
TOZ Penkala, still exists today. He also constructed the first Croatian aircraft to fly in the country, the
Penkala 1910 Biplane, flown by
Dragutin Novak, who was also the first Croatian pilot. He constructed and invented many other products and devices, and held a total of 80
patents. Among his patented inventions were: • a
thermos bottle - his first patented invention, the "Termofor" • a type of bluing
detergent • a rail-car
brake • an
anode battery He also founded another company called the Elevator Chemical Manufacturing Company, which produced various chemicals such as detergents, sealing wax, and "Radium Vinovica", a
patent-medicine – like product that was billed as curing
rheumatism. He had four children with his wife, Emily. Penkala died in Zagreb at the age of 50, after catching
pneumonia on a business trip. He was buried at the
Mirogoj Cemetery. == See also ==