Shankar Abaji Bhise

Life & Legacy

Shankar Abaji Bhisey, Sunker Abaji Bhisey, Shanker Abaji Bhise or Sunker Bisey Abaji (he used the form Bisey in the US) (29 April 1867 – 7 April 1935) was a self-taught Indian inventor who was once called by the New York American as the "Edison of India". Sponsored by Indian nationalists, he moved to England where his inventions included a type-setting machine for the printing industry, an advertising innovation and so on. He then moved to the US where he designed a modification of the then popular ouija board where the supposed message of the spirit was printed onto a strip of paper. This spirit typewriter was patented in the US on 27 June 1922. He made no money from it but shortly after that he promoted a form of iodine termed as "atomidine" as a patent medicine, promoted by the American psychic Edgar Cayce, which earned him royalty and fame. He had nearly 200 inventions to his credit with 40 of them patented.