Debain, Alexandre-François

views updated

Debain, Alexandre-François

Debain, Alexandre-François , French inventor

of the harmonium; b. Paris, 1809; d. there, Dec. 3, 1877. He established a factory of pianos and organs in Paris (1834), and after long experimentation with free reeds patented his harmonium in 1840. He also invented the antiphonel and the harmonichorde, and improved the accordion.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire