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 Opinions
The Quarrel Renews
The Lumière brothers are once again being disputed over the invention of the cinematograph, which a note from Mr. Noguès, presented on June 8th to the Academy of Sciences by Mr. Charles Richet, attributes to Professor Marey.
Mr. Louis Lumière, who does not understand the interest some people have in denying them the title to which his brother and he are entitled, responded on June 15th with a communication to the Academy of Sciences.
He recalls the various statements made by Marey, notably:
On August 22, 1897, at the Congress of Learned Societies.
"For my part," he said, "I was seeking to produce an optical synthesis of movement. Messrs. A. and L. Lumière were the first to achieve this type of projection with their cinematograph.
In 1899, at the Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers:
"The kinetoscope was soon supplanted by the admirable instrument of Messrs. Lumière, universally known as the cinematograph...
In 1900, in a report on the exhibition of instruments and images:
- This instrument (the Lumière cinematograph) finally provides the solution sought, that is, the projection of animated scenes onto a screen, visible to a large audience and giving the perfect illusion of movement.
These are three quotes from Marey that leave no doubt about the famous professor's opinion. They are also confirmed in the report of the Class 12 installation committee, which Marey chaired at the 1900 Exhibition, where we can read under the signatures of the two rapporteurs, Messrs. Davanne, president of the Société Française de Photographie, and Bucquet, president of the Photo-Club:
Through a series of inventions, improvements, and necessary modifications, Messrs. Lumière transformed methods and devices. They created the cinematograph. Is it possible, after this, to take the discussion further?
The Lumière brothers, who work tirelessly in their Lyon laboratory, have only one response to the objections raised against them: the very words of Marey, this pioneer, whose research and work they have always admired.
AUGUSTE NARDY,
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