Willgodt Theophil Odhner

Willgodt Theophil Odhner (Russian Вильгодт Теофил Однер ) ( born August 10, 1845 in Dalby, † September 15, 1905 in Saint Petersburg ) was a Swedish, acting in Russia engineer and inventor of the Odhner - Arithmometer, a mechanical calculating machine with a pinwheel.

Odhner was born in Dalby in Swedish Värmland. From 1864 to 1867 he studied without graduating from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. In 1868 he moved to St. Petersburg, where he remained until his death in 1905.

Odhner developed the first mechanical computer that bears his name in 1875. Arithmometer This was patented in 1878-1879 in several countries. The series production of an improved version began in 1890. Two years later, the company later Brunsviga received the license for Germany, Belgium and Switzerland to present their device at the World Exhibition in Chicago. After Odhners death his sons Alexander and George and his son Karl Siewert continued the production and about 23,000 computers were produced until the factory was forced to close in 1918.