technologies. During his time in , In 1850, Meucci and his wife left Havana to Meucci from making large-scale demonstra- Antonio Meucci Meucci invented a water purification system for immigrate to the United States, settling in the tions of his revolutionary system. In (April 13, 1808 - October 18, 1889) use in the Tacón Opera house for drinking Rosebank area of , New York, addition, prejudices associated with his nation- purposes and for a fountain system. where they would live for the remainder of ality prevented New York financiers from their lives. Meucci developed a formula for knowing of his developments, so he turned to Antonio Meucci was a The decision to move to Havana was indeed a smokeless candles and opened a small factory his own compatriots for assistance. prolific Italian inventor, good one. A young and dreamy romantic, for their production on his property. These engineer, and practical Meucci began looking for funding in from Meucci found the beauty of theater work quite smokeless candles were sought by neighbors, chemist who is most Italian financiers. In 1861, Meucci performed a entrancing and inspirational. Genuine accept- churches and general stores, earning him a known for developing a long-distance demonstration featuring a ance, and loving recognition added joy to the moderate income upon which he could survive. form of voice communi- famous Italian opera singer, which brought lives of the young couple. cation apparatus in 1857. By now, Ester was completely crippled with considerable attention and was published in He has long had champi- arthritis and confined to the upstairs bedroom. L'Eco d'Italia, an Italian newspaper in New York Meucci held a fascination with physiological ons arguing that he Meucci installed a small teletrofonic system, City. Unfortunately, the distraction of the wars conditions and their electrical responses, and should be credited with connecting Ester’s room to his small factory, so of the Risorgimento made it nearly impossible began studying “electro-medicine,” which was the invention of the tele- he could speak to her throughout the day. It to attract the investments he’d hoped for. popularly practiced throughout Europe and the phone. was here in Rosebank, Staten Island that he Bankruptcy Americas. Through experimentation, he devel- developed and improved upon his teletrofono. Antonio Meucci was oped a method of using short electrical impuls- 1861, Meucci was led to poverty by trials held born to Amatis Joseph Meucci and Mary Sunday es to treat pain with the aim of curing illnesses Meucci and Ester took boarders from time to against him by fraudulent collectors, resulting Louis Pepi on Wednesday, April 13, 1808 in altogether. time in order to afford minimum luxuries. in the auctioning of his Staten Island cottage. , Italy. He attended the Accademia di When , later to be known as An astonishing revelation was made when a The purchaser allowed the Meucci’s to live in Bell’ Arte (Academy of Fine Arts) in Florence, the “Hero of Two Worlds,” was exiled from man suffering from migraine headaches sought the cottage without paying rent, but the where he studied chemical and mechanical Italy, he came to stay with the Meucci family. out Meucci and his technology. Treatment Meucci's private finances dwindled so that they engineering, and electricity in particular. These Meucci and Garibaldi developed a friendship began as Meucci placed a small copper elec- soon had to live on public funds and by subjects laid the foundation for his future as an and walked, hunted, and fished in the country- trode both his and the man’s mouth, sending a depending on friends. inventor. side of Staten Island. He and Garibaldi manu- mild stimulating current to the patient. Meucci factured candles and other products, support- In July 1871, while traveling from Manhattan In 1833, Meucci searched for a workplace that felt the man’s shout of surprise in his own ing themselves and the needs of others. to Staten Island, Meucci was nearly killed when was not oppressive and would be a source of mouth, discovering what would later be known the steam engine of the ferryboat Westfield new ideas, so he began looking toward as the “electrophonic” effect, or the phenome- The First Electromagnetic exploded, leaving him severely burned. Meucci theatre. He took a well-paying job working at non later know as “physiophony.” The man Meucci methodically explored different means languished in a hospital bed for months. His the Teatro della Pergola Opera House in expressed his thanks and left feeling relieved of transmitting speech over vibrating electric financial and health state was so bad that his Florence as a stage technician, assisting that his migraine had broken. currents. From 1850 to 1862, he developed wife Ester sold his original teletrofono models Artemio Canovetti. It was at this theatre that Meucci verified the physiophonic phenome- more than 30 different models, with twelve dis- to a second-hand dealer for six dollars to raise he met costume designer, Ester Mochi, who non repeatedly. Upon experiencing the now- tinct variations. His first models utilized the money for his expenses. later became his wife on August 7, 1834 in the famed effect, visitors were awed. Building vibrating loop principle discovered in Havana. church of Santa Maria Novella in Florence. The Telettrofono Company and Caveat upon this discovery, it was in Havana that Later, paper cones were replaced with tin While recovering from injuries, Meucci set up Havana, Meucci conceived of the first telephonic cylinders to increase the resonant ring. He an agreement with Angelo Zilio Grandi In October 1835, Meucci and his wife left system in 1849, when experimented with thin membranes, set in (Secretary of the Italian Consulate in New York, Florence, never to return. They emigrated to was only 2 years old. vibration by contact with the vibrating copper Angelo Antonio Tremeschin (entrepreneur), Havana Cuba. Antonio became the Chief Staten Island, NY - USA strip in a model resembling the telephone as we and Sereno G. P. Breguglia Tremeschin (busi- Engineer at the Great Tacón Theater and Ester know it. nessman), forming the Telettrofono Company. When the “New World” finally opened its became the Director of Costumes. His teletrofoni were now fully formed, hand- The agreement was notarized by Angelo doors to European immigrants, there were no Bertolino, a Notary Public of New York on certainties for those who came to work and held, cup shaped devices. Meucci kept dia- The Meucci family made Havana their home. December 12, 1871. live. Established families and bureaucrats grams, notebooks, and models proving the suc- Antonio pursued numerous experimental lines despised and were so threatened by these ”for- cess of his designs. In 1858, a sketch was made of research developing a new method for elec- Meucci was warned not to bring anything to eigner people,” that they set up legislation for by painter Nestore Corradi illustrating long-dis- troplating metals. This new art was applied to the American industrial market without first the purpose of limiting their upward move- tance communication, commonly known as all sorts of Cuban military equipment, resulting protecting himself by legal means, which meant ments by creating a “middle class” economic ”Corradi’s drawing.” in Meucci gaining fame and recognition as a sci- he needed a patent at the cost of two-hundred stratum that has remained in force to this day. entific researcher and developer of new It was lack of funding alone the prevented and fifty dollars. Since he could not afford the

patent, he settled the matter by obtaining a newspapers, claiming the invention as his. On July 19, 1887, Judge William Wallace in the temporary one-year caveat for twenty dollars, The Trial case of “The U.S. Government vs. Antonio funded by his new business partners. Meucci” ruled in favor of Bell. Wallace's ruling The In March 1886, Bell was taken to court in the On December 28, 1871, Meucci had the legal stated that Meucci was not able to provide ade- case “The U.S. Government vs. Alexander quate evidence, from the caveat or otherwise, Garibaldi-Meucci caveat numbered 3335,“Sound Telegraph,” Graham Bell and the Bell Company,” for fraud, from the U.S. Patent Office, which gives a brief that contained elements of an electric speaking collusion and deception in obtainment of the telephone that would give him the same priori- description of the invention. Given the low fee patent. Museum of the caveat, the lawyer dictated the caveat ty over or interfere with the Bell patent. specification in half an hour and did not The trial lasted 11 Wallace also refuted that Meucci understood include some important information. Meucci years, closing in 1897 the key principles of the invention, describing wrote a letter to his lawyer to try to correct the due to the death of the Meucci’s system as an elaborate “string tele- imprecision, but the lawyer did not take his presiding judge and phone.” He further concluded that Meucci was suggestions into consideration, assuring also because Bell’s deliberately involved in attempts to defraud Meucci that the abridged caveat would provide patent had expired. investors. enough protection. This left no winners or Throughout the rest of his life, penniless on losers, except for the Staten Island, Meucci maintained confident The Telettrofono Company only lived for a lawyers who were paid short time, collapsing after two of the partners resolve of his life’s work: "...the telephone significant amounts which I invented and which I first made known left the United States, withdrawing their shares during those years. and the third died the following year. and which, as you know, was stolen from me." In 1886, two days Underwater Communication On June 11, 2002, long after his death, the U.S. after the Government vs. Bell case had begun, Congress passed House Resolution 269, In 1872-1873, upon request by William Carroll, the Bell set up another introduced by Rep. Vito Fossella of Staten a diver, Meucci constructed a special marine trial, “The U.S. Government vs. Antonio Island, which recognizes the life and telephone to allow a diver to communicate with Meucci,” which, if ruled quickly, would create a achievements of Antonio Meucci, and his work the mother ship while underwater. On July 8, situation of res adjudicata in the former trial. in the invention of the telephone. 1880, Meucci he filed a Patent application for Plainly, this meant that if a case had already this device. been judged, a similar case could not be judged Western Union Telegraph again. In the summer of 1872, Meucci and his friend Meucci had limited existing evidence to prove Angelo Bertolino went to Edward B. Grant, Vice his priority of the electromagnetic telephone. President of Western Union Telegraph His models had been sold and then lost at Company of New York, to ask for permission to Western Union. Furthermore, the newspaper test his telephone apparatus on the article describing his work in L'Eco d'Italia Antonio companies telegraph lines. He gave Grant a appeared to have been destroyed in a fire and description of his prototype and a copy of his no copies could be found. As a result, Meucci caveat, encouraged by Grant that he would be had to recount in court what he wrote for the Garibaldi-Meucci Museum contacted shortly for the test run. Hours of newspaper. 420 Tompkins Avenue Meucci waiting became days. So infuriated over this One of the most important pieces of evidence Staten Island, NY 10305 betrayal of trust, Meucci maintained a vigil at was Meucci's Memorandum Book, produced by 718.442.1608 : 718.442.8635 the Union Office, becoming an annoying eye- Rider & Clark, which noted drawings and [email protected] sore. In 1874, after two years of repeated vis- records from 1862 - 1882. In the trial, Meucci www.garibaldimeuccimuseum.org The True Inventor its asking for his models and documentation, was accused of having produced records after Owned and Operated by the Grant finally answered that all of Meucci’s Bell's invention and backdated them. As proof, Order Sons of Italy In America of the Telephone materials had been lost. the prosecutor produced the fact that Rider & Clark was founded only in 1863. In the trial, On December 28, 1874, Meucci's caveat The Italian Heritage & Culture Month Committee Meucci said that William E. Rider himself, one t h expired. In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell, an promotes Italian culture by focusing on schools and of the owners, had given him a copy of the 2 0 0 A n n i v e r s a r y employee working in the Western Union labora- taking a leadership role in promoting Italy and its tories, is granted a patent on the telephone. Memorandum Book in 1862. The judge, a well- cultural contributions through events, concerts, exhibits 1 8 0 8 - 2 0 0 8 Meucci repeatedly protested, sending letters to known proponent of anti-immigration policy, and lectures. did not believe him. Visit: www.italyculturemonth.org