Eugenio Barsanti

Life & Legacy

Eugenio Barsanti (12 October 1821 – 19 April 1864), also named Nicolò, was an Italian engineer and Catholic priest who, together with Felice Matteucci, invented the first internal combustion engine in 1853. Their patent request was granted in London on 12 June 1854, and published in London's Morning Journal under the title "Specification of Eugene Barsanti and Felix Matteucci, Obtaining Motive Power by the Explosion of Gasses", as documented by the Fondazione Barsanti e Matteucci.