Szatmári Gizella: Signs of Remembrance - Our Budapest (Budapest, 2005)
accumulated significant experience in the natural sciences. After reading law at the College of Debrecen, he continued his studies at the Vienna Polytechnic. A classroom experiment gave him the idea of developing the noiseless phosphorous match. Having sold his invention, he went on a three-year study trip of Germany. A Munich chemist, one Tilmietz, had introduced the friction match as early as 1815; this, however, was extremely dangerous due to its explosive ignition, which could cause severe burns. Irinyi revolutionised the production technology by altering the chemical compound: he replaced potassium chlorate with lead hyperoxide in the head of phosphorous match. These "agents will interact in safety”, and the resulting article is the "safety match” (1836). On his return from his study trip in 1839, Irinyi set up shop in Nyár utca, but shortly, in April of 1941, he moved his workshop to the building at the corner of Joseph Town's Ősz and József streets. A few months later he was already working at today’s Március 15. tér, but as the authorities found that his activities posed a fire hazard (!), he closed down his factory and sold the premises. As an alternative to his work so far, he began to write articles and a textbook on chemistry. "...[He] was a curious man, who did not very well fit into this world,” remembered Vilmos Hankó in 1910. "His invention could have made him fabulously rich if his excessive modesty had not prevented him from exchanging his knowledge for money.” An important area of his science writing was the coinage of Hungarian terms for chemical elements and compounds. Irinyi gave an interesting lecture at the 13 April 1842 session of the Natural Sciences Society. In the lecture he made his recommendations for linguistic reform public. His match factory continued in operation until 1848 when he was put, by Kossuth, in charge of the Nagyvárad Gunpowder and Armaments Factory in recognition of Irinyi's qualifications in technology and chemistry. A very different kind of recognition was given to his activities as factory overseer a few months later when he was imprisoned for a few months by the repressive Austrian authorities. He was only allowed to attend his mother's burial in January of 1850 under the escort of bayonet-armed gendarmerie. Later he worked, subsequently as director, at a steam mill in Debrecen. Made by János Horvay in 1936, the plaque honouring Irinyi’s memory marks the place his former factory in the building at today’s 1 Mikszáth Kálmán tér, District VIII. A bronze portrait set in 50
