Vittorio Croizat

Victor (Vittorio) Croizat (1856–1915) was an engineer and industrial entrepreneur who figured prominently in the early development of public lighting and the Italian automotive industry in Turin (Torino).

Early life

Croizat was born in Chambéry, France to Joeseph Croizat and Clémence Vautaret. In December 1889, he married Marie Chaley in Ceyzérieu, France. French engineer Joseph Chaley was a great uncle to both Marie and Victor. Soon after their marriage, Victor and Marie emigrated to Turin, where Victor was employed by the city to develop and implement a street/city lighting plan.[1][2]

Career
Letterhead for Vittorio Croizat, Turin engineer

Lighting

Croizat worked as an engineer in Turin,[3] specializing in electric and gas lighting. He obtained multiple patents (in Germany and the United States, at a minimum) for gas lighting and heat exchange apparatuses.[4][5][6][7] He published articles regarding industrial uses of acetylene,[8] Scattered evidence of his work in public lighting indicates that he worked in Constanta, Romania[9] and on a design for a lighthouse oil lamp at Cape Guardafui in Somalia.[10]

Transport
Advertisement for Rambler bicycles; Vittorio Croizat, dealer.

Croizat was a pioneer in the automobile industry of northern Italy; after licensing motor designs from Peugeot, he founded Automobili Peugeot SA Brevetti to produce new automobiles under the brand Peugeot-Croizat. The company used modified versions of the Peugeot designs, and operated from 1905 to 1907. Croizat was also a dealer for Rambler bicycles.[11]

Croizat also was an investor in early oil refining efforts in Italy, and owned the Piano d'Orta oil refinery.[12]

Personal life

Victor and Marie had several children; one, Léon Croizat became a pioneer in botany and evolutionary theory.

References
  1. Llorente, J., J. Morrone, A. Bueno, R. Pérez, A. Viloria. &: D. Espinosa: Historia del desarrollo y la recepción de las ideas panbíogeográficas de Léon Croizat, Rev. Acad. Colomb. Cienc. 24(93): 549-577, 2000. ISSN 0370-3908.
  2. "Journey Among Warriors: The Memoirs of a Marine" by Victor J. Croizat. White Mane Publishing Co., 1996
  3. Engineering, v. 70
  4. Official Gazette of the United States Patent Office, October 8, 1907, p. 1603.
  5. German Patent No. 114916: Verrichtung zum Zünden und Lëschen von gasflammen uner Benutzung des sich ändernden Gasdrucks
  6. United States Patent Office No. 680568 A. Gas-lamp Lighting or Extinguishing Apparatus.
  7. The Electrical Engineer, V. 16, October 11, 1895, p. 436.
  8. Peruta, FD; Cantarella, E. Bibliography of Periodicals Economic Lombard 1815-1914, v. 1.
  9. http://www.replicaonline.ro/de-la-zi-la-noapte-constanta-iluminata-cu-felinare-si-ulei-mineral-86521/
  10. http://farofrancescocrispicapeguardafui.wordpress.com/2014/03/06/un-faro-torinese-in-somalia/
  11. Guide to Turin, 1902. Committee of The First International Exhibition of Modern Decorative Arts
  12. http://www.pianodorta.it/Piano%5B%5D d'orta petrolio.htm
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