Václav Prokop Diviš ( 26 March, 1698 – 25 December, 1765) was a Czech theologian and natural scientist.

Diviš was born in Helvíkovice near Žamberk, Bohemia. Between 1750 and 1754, he invented a lightning rod independently of Benjamin Franklin's invention in 1753, and constructed the first electrified musical instrument in history, the so-called Denis d'or. He died in Přímětice (today part of) Znojmo, Moravia.

Notes

References

• Reinhard Breymayer. "Bibliographie zu Prokop Diviš". from Friedrich Christoph Oetinger's Die Lehrtafel der Prinzessin Antonia. Hrsg. von Reinhard Breymayer und Friedrich Häußermann. Teil 2. Anmerkungen. Berlin, New York 1977, pp. 431-453
• Luboš Nový (Ed.): Dějiny exaktních věd v českých zemích do konce 19. století. Prague 1961

External links

• "Procopius Divisch" in Catholic Encyclopedia (Divis died December 25, not December 21 as claimed there)
• Prokop Diviš Memorial