František Křižík

Who was František Křižík?

František Křižík was a Czech inventor, electrical engineer, and entrepreneur. Křižík was born into a poor family in Plánice, located at the time within the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In spite of this, Křižík managed in 1866 to study engineering at the Technical University of Prague ČVUT. In 1878 Křižík invented a device to protect against collision between trains. His first experiments in Plzeň resulted in invention of the automatic electric arc lamp, the so-called "Plzen Lamp", for which he successfully defended his patent against Werner Siemens claim to have created it first. The restored and fully functional patented arc lamp with automated electrode adjustment can be viewed at the Museum of Pilsen. In 1884 Křižík set up his own company building tramway lines, street cars, power stations, and electric equipment. A Prague subway station was named after František Křižík – Křižíkova.