Abraham Stern (inventor)

Abraham asterisk (* 1762-1769 in Hrubieszów, † February 3, 1842 in Warsaw) was a Polish Jew, watchmaker, a self-taught mathematician and inventor of calculating machines, great-grandfather of Antoni Słonimski. His youngest daughter, Sarah, married in 1842 to Chaim Zelig Słonimski, Father Stanisław Słonimski by the doctor and grandfather of the poet Antoni Słonimski.

Abraham Stern began as an apprentice at a watchmaker in Hrubieszów, but soon he began to build from gears calculators. He built in 1810 a series of calculating machines that performed the four basic arithmetic operations and also could calculate the square root. Stanisław Staszic, priests and representatives of the Polish Enlightenment, Star brought to Warsaw and enabled him to develop other inventions, such as the geodetic triangle.

Thanks Staszic star could show off his inventions on April 30, 1817 a meeting of the Warsaw Society of Friends of Sciences. One of his calculating machines was equipped with a clock drive and work independently.

On February 4, 1821 Abraham Stern was elected a member of this society. 1826-1835 Star held the post of Rector of the Warsaw Rabbinical school.

He was buried at the Jewish cemetery in Warsaw Bródno.