Constantin Perskyi

Constantin Perskyi (Константин Дмитриевич Перский) was a Russian scientist who is credited with coining the word television in a paper read (in French) at the International World Fair in Paris on 25 August 1900 at the 1st International Congress of Electricity which ran from 18 to 25 August. At the time, he was Professor of Electricity at the Artillery Academy of Saint Petersburg. His paper referred to the work of other experimenters in the field, including Nipkow and Bachmetiev (Порфирий Иванович Бахметьев), who were attempting to use the photoelectric properties of selenium as the basis for their inventions.

It is likely, considering the relative dates of various historical documents, that German experimenters first coined the word Fernsehen, which the Russians then translated to televidenie, and which Perskyi then translated from Russian into French as télévision. This was immediately reported in The Electrician magazine as television.

References

• Constantin Perskyi, "Television by means of electricity", from the International World Fair of 1900, International Congress of Electricity (Paris, August 18–25, 1900), reported under the authority of Mr. E. Hospitalier, General Reporter, Gauthier-Villars, printer and publisher, Paris, 1901. (French) text
• The Electrician, London, 21 September 1900
• Perskyi coins word "television" (August 25, 1900)

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