In Helvíkovice near Žamberk stands the house where the Czech inventor, physicist and priest Prokop Diviš was born in 1698. The house is now managed by the Žamberk Museum and there is an exhibition about Diviš`s life here.

When Benjamin Franklin conquered the world with his lightning rods (conductors), which began to be built according to his design throughout Europe during the 18th century, Prokop Diviš, a native of Žamberk, inventor and priest, already had one in his backyard in Přímětice near Znojmo. It was not of Franklin`s design, but of his own, and it preceded its American counterpart by several years. Prokop Diviš built his lightning conductor, or machina meteorologica as he called it, in 1754. The first Diviš lightning conductor had a better and safer construction, but due to its size and complexity of construction, as well as to other circumstances of the priest`s life on a small farm in the middle of Europe, it did not prevail in the world competition.

Diviš himself apparently did not assemble any of his inventions in his native house in Helvíkovice. He apparently lived there until he was sixteen and then left to study. His further activity in Bohemia is associated rather with Přímětice near Znojmo, where, in addition to his clerical career, he devoted himself to physics experiments and where he probably first erected his famous lightning conductor. Diviš`s family house in Helvíkovice gradually fell into disrepair during the 18th and 19th centuries, and its current state is therefore more of a historical reconstruction. Most parts of the house that are accessible today date from the 20th century. Visitors can see not only the reconstructed home of Diviš, but also an exhibition about his life and scientific work, including a copy of his lightning conductor. The house was first opened to the public in 1965 and since then it has been part of the Žamberk Municipal Museum.

Keywords: history of natural sciences; physics; Physics; electricity; lightening conductor; family house; Diviš

Kolomý, R.: Počátky výzkumu atmosférické elektřiny. Uplynulo 300 let od narození Prokopa Diviše (26. března 1698 ─ 26. prosince 1765). Šestnacty zborník dejín fyziky, s. 13─28.

The House where Prokop Diviš Was Born