Contemporaries
Ivan Kulibin
Mechanic · inventor
Show on the timeline- Period of activity shown
- 1764–1818
A self-taught mechanic from Nizhny Novgorod, known for intricate clocks and engineering designs. After presenting a clock to Catherine II, he became head of the St Petersburg Academy’s mechanical workshop. He designed bridges, lighting devices, lifting mechanisms and prostheses. Some ideas were successfully tested as models, but many major projects were never built. He later worked chiefly on mechanically propelled vessels in Nizhny Novgorod.
- Life
- 1735–1818
- On the timeline
- 1764–1818: from the celebrated clock to his later inventions
- Design test
- A model single-span bridge across the Neva was tested in 1776; the bridge was never built