24 Facts About Luther Simjian

Luther George Simjian was an Armenian-American inventor and entrepreneur.

Luther Simjian's father, George, was an insurance broker working for an Austrian company.

In 1915, during the Armenian genocide, the Luther Simjian family fled to Aleppo, Syria, only to return to Aintab in 1920.

Luther Simjian fled to Beirut, then to France and eventually to the United States by the end of 1920.

Luther Simjian first settled in New Haven, Connecticut, living with an uncle.

Luther Simjian graduated from the Booth Preparatory School in New Haven.

Luther Simjian began working as a technician at the Yale School of Medicine in a work-study position at the photography lab.

Luther Simjian was inspired to invent it from his unhappiness with the repetitive nature of yearbook portraits.

Luther Simjian applied for patent in June 1931 and was granted one for the "Self-focusing camera" in July 1932.

Luther Simjian eventually sold the rights to the PhotoReflex camera and name but reserved the rights to use the technology for non-photographic applications.

Luther Simjian decided to apply the new technology of television to X-ray images.

Luther Simjian thereafter traveled to Europe and established a laboratory in London and Miroflex, a company to produce the PhotoReflex camera.

Luther Simjian served as president and chairman of Reflectone until he sold the company to Universal Match Corporation in 1961.

Luther Simjian grew exponentially to manufacture the orders for this trainer with the number of employees rising from three to over 100 and to 250 by 1950.

Luther Simjian invented what has been described as a precursor of the automated teller machine.

In 1960 Luther Simjian filed for patent a device that incorporated an ATM photographing the deposited check.

Luther Simjian introduced it to the wider public in 1961, when it was placed in a few City Bank of New York bank lobbies for six months.

Luther Simjian revisited and improved some of his earlier inventions.

Luther Simjian spoke Arabic and French, and English with a "thick accent".

Luther Simjian's interests included golf, backgammon, Mark Twain's works, porcelains, and Middle Eastern food.

Luther Simjian became a naturalized US citizen in 1929, nine years after his arrival.

Luther Simjian died aged 92 on October 23,1997, at his beachfront apartment in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Luther Simjian was "so private few people would recognize his name," wrote Ardy Friedberg in the Sun-Sentinel in 1997.

Luther Simjian self-published Portions of an Autobiography in 1997 just before his death.