Charles Xavier Thomas
Charles Xavier Thomas | |
---|---|
Born | May 5, 1785 Colmar, France |
Died | March 12, 1870 Paris, France | (aged 84)
Nationality | French |
Known for | Arithmometer |
Charles Xavier Thomas de Colmar (May 5, 1785 – March 12, 1870) was a French
Biography
Born Charles Xavier Thomas in Colmar, France, his father was a doctor and member of the town council.[1] After a short employment in the French administration, Thomas joined the French army in 1809 eventually reaching the level of General Manager of the supply store of all of the armies located in Spain in 1813. Shortly thereafter he was promoted to Inspector of Supply for the entire French army. It was during that time that he conceived the idea of the Arithmometer to help him with the great deal of calculations that he had to perform.
Back into civilian life, in 1819, he co-founded the fire insurance company "Phoenix" which he left quickly because of the lack of support for his new ideas from his partners and shareholders. Ten years later, in 1829, he started the fire insurance company "Le Soleil" that he grew by merger and acquisitions until his death. In 1843 he started another insurance company called "L'Aigle incendie". With the Sun (soleil) symbol of previous kings of France and the Eagle (aigle) reminiscent of Napoleon, he had all bases covered to attract a wide range of customers in a very divided 19th century France. By his death the "Aigle - Soleil" group was the biggest insurance business in France and he owned 81% of it. Eighty years later, in 1946, it was nationalized and finally merged with "La National" in 1968 to become the GAN company which is still in business today.
Arithmometer
The first model of the Arithmometer was introduced in 1820, and as a result Thomas was made
Personal life
He married Francesca (Frasquita) Garcia de Ampudia Alvarez in Seville in 1812. She came from an old Andalusian noble family. Together, they had ten children, including: Joseph Thomas d'Alvarez; Charlotte (Countess de Rancy); Louis Thomas, who married Livia Carafa, Duchess of Bojano and took the name of Thomas de Bojano; Frasquita (Mrs Soultzner d'Enschwyl); and Henriette (Countess de Dalmas).
See also
References
- ^ J. Joly, Thomas de Colmar, excerpted from “La vie en Alsace, 1932”
- ^ California State University. "Charles Xavier Thomas de Colmar".
- ^ "The Thomas Arithmometer, the First Commercially Produced Mechanical Calculator". Retrieved 18 May 2020.
External links
- Patent at the Wayback Machine (archived January 23, 2002)
- His biography on Arithmometre.org
- Another biography in French Archived 2011-07-22 at the Wayback Machine