專八人文知識(shí)需知的美國(guó)名人--柯達(dá)的創(chuàng)始人GeorgeEastman

　　George Eastman (July 12, 1854 March 14, 1932) founded theEastman Kodak Company and invented roll film, helping to bringphotography to the mainstream. Roll film was also the basis forthe invention of motion picture film in 1888 by the world's firstfilmmaker Louis Le Prince, and a decade later by his followersLéon Bouly, Thomas Edison, the Lumière Brothers and GeorgesMéliès.

　　He was an American inventor and philanthropist, who played aleading role in transforming photography from an expensive hobby of a few devotees into arelatively inexpensive and immensely popular pastime.

　　Early life

　　He was born in Waterville, New York, and was self-educated. In 1884, Eastman patented the firstfilm in roll form to prove practicable; in 1888 he perfected the Kodak camera, the first cameradesigned specifically for roll film. In 1892, he established the Eastman Kodak Company, atRochester, New York, one of the first firms to mass-produce standardized photographyequipment. This company also manufactured the flexible transparent film, devised by Eastman in1889, which proved vital to the subsequent development of the motion picture industry.

　　Eastman was associated with the company in an administrative and an executive capacity until hisdeath and contributed much to the development of its notable research facilities. He was also oneof the outstanding philanthropists of his time, donating more than $75 million to various projects.Notable among his contributions were a gift to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology andendowments for the establishment of the Eastman School of Music in 1918 and a school ofmedicine and dentistry in 1921 at the University of Rochester.

　　Later years

　　In 1925, Eastman gave up his daily management of Kodak to become chairman of the board. Hethereafter concentrated on philanthropic activities, to which he had already donated substantialsums. For example, he donated funds to establish the Eastman Dental Dispensary, in 1916. He wasone of the major philanthropists of his time, ranking only slightly behind Andrew Carnegie, John D.Rockefeller, and a few others, but did not seek publicity for his activities. He concentrated oninstitution-building and causes that could help people's health. He donated to the University ofRochester, establishing the Eastman School of Music and School of Dentistry; to TuskegeeInstitute; and to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), donations that provided thecapital to build several of their first buildings at their second campus along the Charles River.

　　In his final two years, Eastman was in intense pain, caused by a degenerative disorder affecting hisspine. He had trouble standing and his walking became a slow shuffle. Today it might be diagnosedas spinal stenosis, a narrowing of the spinal canal caused by calcification in the vertebrae. Eastmangrew depressed, as he had seen his mother spend the last two years of her life in a wheelchair fromthe same condition. On March 14, 1932, Eastman committed suicide with a single gunshot to theheart, leaving a note which read, "My work is done. Why wait?" His funeral was held at St. Paul'sEpiscopal Church in Rochester; he was buried on the grounds of the company he founded atKodak Park in Rochester, New York.

　　Legacy

　　During his lifetime, he donated $100 million, mostly to the University of Rochester and theMassachusetts Institute of Technology (under the alias "Mr. Smith").[2] The Rochester Institute ofTechnology has a building dedicated to Mr. Eastman, in recognition of his support and substantialdonations. He endowed the Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester.

　　In recognition of his donation, MIT has a plaque of Eastman (the rubbing of the nose of which istraditionally considered by students to bring good luck). Eastman also made substantial gifts to theTuskegee Institute and the Hampton Institute. Upon his death, his entire estate went to theUniversity of Rochester, where his name can be found on the Eastman Quadrangle of the RiverCampus. The auditorium at Mississippi State Universities Dave C. Swalm School of ChemicalEngineering is named for Eastman in recognition of his inspiration to Mr. Swalm. His former home at900 East Avenue in Rochester, New York was opened as the George Eastman House InternationalMuseum of Photography and Film in 1949. In 1954, the 100th anniversary of his birth, Eastmanwas honored with a postage stamp from the United States Post Office.

　　Eastman had a very astute business sense. He focused his company on making film whencompetition heated up in the camera industry. By providing quality and affordable film to everycamera manufacturer, Kodak managed to turn its competitors into de facto business partners.

　　In 1926, George Eastman was approached by Lord Riddell, the Chairman of Royal Free Hospital, tofund a dental clinic in London. He agreed to give £800,000 which was matched by £80,000 eachfrom Lord Riddell and Sir Albert Levy, the Royal Free's honorary treasurer.

　　The Eastman Dental Clinic was opened in November 20, 1931, by the American Ambassador in thepresence of Neville Chamberlain. The building, which resembled the Rochester Dispensary, wastotally integrated into the Royal Free Hospital and included three wards for oral, ear, nose, andthroat and cleft lip and palate surgery and was dedicated to providing dental care for children fromthe poor districts of central London.

　　In a similar manner, Eastman went on to establish dental clinics in Rome, Paris, Brussels andStockholm.

　　簡(jiǎn)介

　　1888年，首批投放市場(chǎng)的喬治伊斯曼發(fā)明的柯達(dá)照相機(jī)，是一種簡(jiǎn)單的手提方盒式照相機(jī)，裝有一卷可拍100張的紙底片。拍完后要送回廠內(nèi)進(jìn)行顯影、印像和重裝底片。1889年，伊斯曼生產(chǎn)了透明膠片;1892年，將原企業(yè)改組為伊斯曼一柯達(dá)公司。8 年后，生產(chǎn)了供兒童用的“白朗尼”照相機(jī)，每個(gè)售價(jià)1美元。

　　到1927年，伊斯曼一柯達(dá)公司實(shí)際上已壟斷了美國(guó)攝影工業(yè)，并且是美國(guó)攝影工業(yè)中最大的公司之一。伊斯曼贈(zèng)給羅切斯特大學(xué)(伊斯曼音樂(lè)學(xué)校是該大學(xué)的一部分)和麻省理工學(xué)院等單位達(dá)7500萬(wàn)美元以上。他還是采用分發(fā)紅利的辦法來(lái)刺激工人的首創(chuàng)者。

　　1932年3月14日，柯達(dá)相機(jī)發(fā)明者喬治伊斯曼自殺而死

　　人物介紹

　　喬治•伊斯曼1854年生于美國(guó)紐約州，8歲的時(shí)候，父親就去世了，他和母親及兩個(gè)姐姐相依為命，生活貧困，常常食不果腹，但他的母親還是努力讓他繼續(xù)念書(shū)。這切，都在幼小的伊斯曼心中打下了深深的烙印，伊斯曼從小便被灌輸了獨(dú)立的意識(shí)。在14歲那一年，為了貼補(bǔ)家用，伊斯曼只得輟學(xué)去幫人做工。

　　在伊斯曼20歲時(shí)，他被紐約羅契斯特的一家儲(chǔ)蓄銀行錄用為一名辦事員，年薪是800美金。至此，伊斯曼的家境才稍有好轉(zhuǎn)。

　　有了固定的工作以后，對(duì)攝影有濃厚的興趣的伊斯曼，便節(jié)衣縮食把省下來(lái)的錢(qián)用來(lái)研究相機(jī)干版攝影。

　　1881年1月，27歲的伊斯曼把自己節(jié)衣縮食省下的5500美元積蓄，在羅契斯特創(chuàng)立了照相機(jī)干版制造公司，主要生產(chǎn)干版膠片。在伊斯曼有這個(gè)想法的以前，攝影一直是在使用濕片，十分麻煩，但是濕片的制造卻比干版的制造要簡(jiǎn)單得多。對(duì)攝影十分著迷的伊斯曼卻沒(méi)有退縮，他相信他一定會(huì)成功的。這個(gè)干版制造公司便是伊斯曼•柯達(dá)公司的前身。

　　伊斯曼一邊制造干版，一邊對(duì)照相機(jī)的構(gòu)造及性能進(jìn)行仔細(xì)研究，他一直想制造出一種操作簡(jiǎn)單的照相機(jī)。蒼天不負(fù)苦心人，七年之后，伊斯曼終于研制成了一種小型口袋式照相機(jī)，命名為“柯達(dá)第一號(hào)”。

　　1889年，公司改名為伊斯曼公司，兩年后，開(kāi)始啟用伊斯曼•柯達(dá)公司這個(gè)名稱。

　　個(gè)人成就

　　創(chuàng)業(yè)之初，伊斯曼便確定了4條經(jīng)營(yíng)原則，即成本低廉、大批生產(chǎn)、大做廣告、面向世界。

　　為了貫徹他的經(jīng)營(yíng)原則，廣泛推廣其產(chǎn)品，1889年，喬治•伊斯曼開(kāi)始在英國(guó)倫敦開(kāi)設(shè)伊斯曼照相器材公司。19世紀(jì)末，他大舉進(jìn)軍世界市場(chǎng)，在德國(guó)、法國(guó)、意大利等歐洲國(guó)家設(shè)立了銷售機(jī)構(gòu)，并很快在歐洲建立了一個(gè)銷售網(wǎng)。

　　1895年，柯達(dá)公司以口袋式相機(jī)售價(jià)5塊美金，驚動(dòng)了整個(gè)社會(huì)，更進(jìn)一步奠定了伊斯曼•柯達(dá)飛速發(fā)展的基礎(chǔ)。

　　20世紀(jì)初，柯達(dá)的產(chǎn)品已打入南美洲和亞洲。

　　1927年，伊斯曼先后在英國(guó)、德國(guó)、加拿大、法國(guó)、澳大利亞5國(guó)建立了工廠，后來(lái)又在巴西建立了子公司，專門(mén)生產(chǎn)感光紙，并在墨西哥建立了生產(chǎn)設(shè)施;同時(shí)，透過(guò)五大洲的銷售公司或代理商，把商品賣給115個(gè)國(guó)家以上。此時(shí)，柯達(dá)公司的全體員工已超過(guò)10萬(wàn)人，而伊斯曼的代理商及推銷機(jī)構(gòu)，幾乎遍及世界各地。