Murgash, Joseph

In 1880-1882, he studied theology in Presburg (now Bratislava ), Esztergom (1882-1884) and until 1888 in Banska Bystrica . From his youth, he had a talent for drawing, science and technology.

After the priestly ordination in 1888, he served as vicar. At the initiative of the artist D. Skutetskiy , who drew attention to his talent as a painter, Murgash was accepted to the school of painting in Budapest , where he studied from 1889 to 1890. Then he continued the study of painting in Munich (1890-1893). He painted sacred figures, landscapes and portraits of prominent figures in Slovakia. In all the churches in which he served as a priest, he painted altar paintings.

Due to constant conflicts with the bishopric, in 1896 Murgash had to emigrate to the United States, where he was appointed to the Slovak parish in Wilkes-Barre , Pennsylvania . Unable to paint, he again turned to the natural sciences, mainly electrical engineering.

He founded a laboratory in Wilkes-Barre, where he began to conduct experiments in the field of wireless telegraphy. In 1904, he received his first two US patents for devices for wireless telegraphy.

Later in 1907-1916. received 15 more patents. Having received the first two patents, he organized the Universal Aether Telegraph Co , which in September 1905 conducted a public test of the reception and transmission of information on the Murgash apparatus. The test was successful, but a hurricane three months later destroyed the antenna masts, which led to the liquidation of his company.

As a priest, he took care of Slovak immigrants, initiated the construction of a new church in Wilkes-Barre, the creation of a library, cemetery, several schools, a sports hall and playgrounds, which are still used today.

He published a newspaper in which he published some of his non-fiction articles and poems.

He took an active part in the national movement of Slovak emigration, wrote articles for the press, was one of the founders of the Slovak League in America, actively supported the creation of an independent state of Czechoslovakia , organized fundraising for the American Slovaks for the creation of Czechoslovakia, signed the Pittsburgh Agreement (1918) between Czechs and Slovaks on the creation of a single state of Czechoslovakia.

In his free time he continued to deal with physics, conducted many experiments. For this he was nicknamed Radio Priest . Due to the lack of funding for research activities, funds received from the sale of his paintings. He was also a collector of plants, minerals and insects. His collection of butterflies consisted of 9,000 copies from around the world.

The outbreak of World War I and the ban on private radio telegraph stations in the United States put an end to Murgash’s pioneering work in this area.

After the creation of Czechoslovakia, he returned to his homeland in 1920. He was a teacher of electrical engineering in a gymnasium, but since he did not find support and understanding of his research work from the Ministry of Education in Prague, four months later he returned to the United States.

In 1925, became a member of the Federal Radio Commission in the United States.

He died at Wilkes-Barre four years later.

Some 1904-1916 Patents

• US Patent 759,825 " Wireless-telegraph apparatus " (1904)
• US Patent 860,051 " Constructing Antennas for Wireless Telegraphy " (1907).
• US Patent 848,675 “ Wave meter ” (1907)
• US Patent 848,676 " Electrical transformer " (1907)
• US Patent 860 051 " Underground wireless telegraphy "
• US Patent 876,383 " Apparatus for making electromagnetic waves " (1908)
• US Patent 915,993 " Wireless telegraphy " (1909)
• US Patent 917 103 " Making of sparkles frequency from power supply without interrupter " (1909)
• US Patent 917 104 “ Magnetic waves detector ” (1909)
• US Patent 930 780 " Magnetic detector " (1909)
• US Patent 1,001,975 Apparatus for making electrical oscillations (1911)
• US Patent 1,034,739 Spinning reel for fishing rod (1912)
• US Patent 1 196 969 " The way and apparatus for making electrical alternating current oscillations" (1916)

• Josef Murgash installed monuments in Bratislava (Slovakia), Wilkes-Barre (USA),
• His name is given to a street in Podbrezova (Brezno district) in Slovakia and an electrical school in Banska Bystrica,
• In 1944, the transport steamer Joseph Murgash was named in the USA
• The first commemorative stamp dedicated to the 10th anniversary of the death of Joseph Murgash came out in September 1939.
• The second postage stamp was issued in 1994 by the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Public Works of the Slovak Republic on the occasion of the 130th anniversary of the birth of Josef Murgas.
• The annual Joseph Murghash Prize was established for the original theoretical contribution to supporting the development of telecommunications services in Slovakia, and the theoretical contribution to the development of telecommunications and the telecommunications industry in Slovakia.

• Jozef Murgaš