The answer is them both. Ladislao Biro was a Hungarian journalist who turned his mind to pen invention because he was thoroughly fed up with fountain pens. As a busy reporter with deadlines, he found smudged notes and ink stains on his clothes a disagreeable occupational hazard.
But what really got on his goat was the fact that the printing presses used for producing newspapers used ink that dried quickly and fixed itself to paper.
After much experimenting, Biro discovered a small rotating nib would allow thinner quick-drying ink to be used. Despite the fact World War Two was still raging, Biro and his brother, Georg, a chemist, patented the design of the ballpoint pen in 1943. They subsequently went into commercial production with the eponymous Biro pen.
Their biggest customer was the Royal Air Force as the Biro pen was ideal for flight crew because it did not flood ink at high altitude like fountain pens.
At the end of the war, Biro patented the rights to the ballpoint pen technology and they were purchased by Marcel Bich who subsequently took BIC ballpoints onto the mass market and began the era of the disposal pen.
But what really got on his goat was the fact that the printing presses used for producing newspapers used ink that dried quickly and fixed itself to paper.
After much experimenting, Biro discovered a small rotating nib would allow thinner quick-drying ink to be used. Despite the fact World War Two was still raging, Biro and his brother, Georg, a chemist, patented the design of the ballpoint pen in 1943. They subsequently went into commercial production with the eponymous Biro pen.
Their biggest customer was the Royal Air Force as the Biro pen was ideal for flight crew because it did not flood ink at high altitude like fountain pens.
At the end of the war, Biro patented the rights to the ballpoint pen technology and they were purchased by Marcel Bich who subsequently took BIC ballpoints onto the mass market and began the era of the disposal pen.
