DÉRI, Miksa
* 27. 10. 1854, Bács, Hungary
† 3. 3. 1938, Meran, Italy
Electrical engineer
D. started his studies at the Technical University of Budapest, and in 1877 finished it with a diploma from Technical University in Vienna. He started his career in the project of regulation of the Danube and Tisza rivers (1878/82), but was actually interested in electrical engineering. In 1882 he was employed at the Electrotechnical Section of the →Ganz Works in Budapest, managed by Károly →Zipernowsky. Here he participated in the works which led to the invention of the transformer in 1885. This invention, patented jointly by D., Otto Titusz →Bláthy and Károly →Zipernowsky, became the basis for the expansion of the AC power worldwide. In 1889 he moved to the new Internationalen Elektrizitäts-Gesellschaft (International Society for electricity), which was jointly set up by →Ganz Works and Union Bank, and became its head. This company built the first power plant in Vienna. In 1904 he invented the so-called D's motor – a single phase repulsion motor which was later produced by several companies (AEG, BBC, Helios). Already ill, he retired in 1923.
