John Adolph Sargrove

John Adolph Sargrove (1906–1975), electrical engineer

1906 born in St Pancras, London, on 23 May, the son of Arpad Szabadi, an electrician, and his wife, Cissie Lily, née Solomons.

1938 Changed his surname to Sargrove

Received his early schooling in Budapest.

1920 Returned to London where he studied at the polytechnic in Regent Street, while undertaking an apprenticeship with several small engineering firms in the London area.

1930 employed by Tungsram Electric Lamps Ltd (later British Tungsram Radio Works Ltd) as a patent researcher.

1933 became chief technical engineer of British Tungsram, working to develop improved thermionic valves.

1940 Left British Tungsram to become chief engineer of the Electro-Physical Laboratories and with Mervyn Sound and Vision Ltd. With these companies he developed photoelectric devices and worked on electronic automation equipment for the armaments industry

Post-war worked on automatic production equipment for the radio industry.

This provided a valuable background for the innovator he was to become, his importance being marked by the large number of British and foreign patents filed under his names. In