1826-1901

Belgian electrical engineer who invented the direct current (DC) electrical generator and motor. Gramme produced the first successful DC generator in 1869 and, after two years of making improvements, began manufacturing them in 1871. They were initially sold for use in electroplating as well as electric lighting. Later, working with Hippolyte Fontaine, he showed that an electrical generator (also called a dynamo) could be used as a motor when the flow of electrical current was reversed.