Ignacy Łukasiewicz

Life & Legacy

Jan Józef Ignacy Łukasiewicz (Polish pronunciation: [iɡˈnatsɨ wukaˈɕɛvitʂ] ; 8 March 1822 – 7 January 1882) was a Polish pharmacist, engineer, businessman, inventor, and philanthropist. He was one of the most prominent philanthropists in the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, crown land of Austria-Hungary. He was a pioneer who in 1856 built the world's first modern oil refinery.
His achievements included the discovery of how to distill kerosene from seep crude oil, the invention of the modern kerosene lamp (1853), the introduction of the first modern street lamp in Europe (1853), and the construction of the world's first modern oil well (1854).