Who really invented the flourescent lamp; was it really Agapito Flores who invented it?

Question

I'm kind of confused if I should be proud to be a Filipino by considering the fact if a Filipino did invent the fluorescent lamp.

Answer 1

Unfortunately, that's probably an urban legend.

Edmund Germer, and his colleges Friedrich Meyer and Hans Spanner, submitted a patent for the modern version of the fluorescent lamp, in December 1926.This predates any possible work that could have been done by Agapito Flores by at least eight years. It is reported anecdotally, that Flores supposedly presented his invention to president Manuel Quezon, around 1936. However by this time General Electric had already begun selling fluorescent lamps to the general public.

According to the story, Flores took out a French patent for the fluorescent bulb, in the late 30's while living in Paris. However, as I said, GE was already selling the bulbs by then, and in any case there is no evidence that such a patent existed, or that Flores ever actually left his home country.

In any case almost no verifiable information exists concerning the person of Agapito Flores, even about his birth and death. Many serious historians now believe that Flores never actually existed. It's possible that the story was simply made up, perhaps by Quezon, or some other anonymous storyteller.....

Answer 2

No, unfortunately not. See this website for dates and check with the dates of the Agapito Flores story. Edmund Germer invented a fluorescent lamp in 1927. Some say it was invented before that. The person who "discovered" Flores, a President Quenzon, became president in 1935.

Anyway, you should still be proud of Filipino heritage, because evn though Flores did not "invent" the fluorescent light, there is still a possibility that he thought of it independantly from Germer.