Kazimierz Prószyński
Kazimierz Prószyński (4 April 1875 – 13 March 1945) was a Polish inventor active in the field of cinematography. He patented his first film camera, called Pleograph, before the Lumière brothers, and later went on to improve the cinema projector for the Gaumont company. He was also the inventor of the widely used first hand-held Aeroscope camera. Biography Born in Warsaw, Prószyński was educated in both Poland and Belgium, and was also active in France, England and the United States. He was the grandson of the photographer Stanisław Antoni Prószyński, who had been accused and sentenced by Congress Poland's Imperial Russian authorities of placing Polish patriotic symbols in the background of photographs. He was also the son of Konrad Prószyński, an active Polish educator, writer and publisher. In 1894, Kazimierz Prószyński built one of the first movie cameras. This Pleograph, or apparatus for taking photographs and projecting pictures, was built before the Lumière brothers lodged their patent. Prószyński also produced several films in Poland at the beginning of the 20th century as well as creating an improved film projector shutter, the first hand held film camera and devised a method of synchronizing sound and film tracks. Kazimierz Prószyński spent a