Ferranti, Sebastian Ziani de (1864-1930)

Ferranti, Sebastian Ziani de

ELECTRICAL ENGINEER, INVENTOR (ENGLAND)

BORN 9 Apr 1864, Liverpool, Merseyside - DIED 13 Jan 1930, Zürich
BIRTH NAME Ferranti, Sebastian Pietro Innocenzo Adhemar Ziani de
GRAVE LOCATION London: Hampstead Cemetery, Fortune Green Road, Camden

Sebastiano de Ferranti was the son of the photographer Cesare de Ferranti and the grandson of the composer Marco Aurelio Zani de Ferranti. When he was thirteen years old he invented an arc light for street lighting. Possibly he built an electrical generator when he was sixteen years old with the help of the future Lord Kelvin. He worked for Siemens in London and in 1882 he started his own company in London. In 1885 he started S. Z. de Ferranti together with Francis Ince and Charles Sparks.

In 1888 he married Gertrude Ruth and they had seven children. He was the President of the Institution of Electrical Engineers from 1910 to 1911. In 1927 he became a Fellow of the Royal Society. He died in Zürich in 1930.

Images

The grave of Sebastiano Ziani de Ferranti at Hampstead Cemetery, London.
Picture by Androom (13 Aug 2016)