Julian Ochorowicz, an outstanding Polish positivist, philosopher, physician, psychologist, writer and inventor, was born on February 23, 1850. The scope of his research interests is astounding in its breadth and boldness in combining discoveries from many branches of science.

He was born into a bourgeois family. Initially educated in Lublin, he was a student at the Lublin Gymnasium, whose then-modern edifice was built thanks to the efforts of Józef Skłodowski, grandfather of the two-time Polish Nobel laureate. Subsequently, Ochorowicz was a student at the Main School in Warsaw. By then he was already publishing treatises on psychology, and in 1869 he constructed the first working model of a writing electric telegraph in Poland. In 1872 he published a work that secured his place among the most prominent representatives of Polish positivism: “Introduction and General View of Positive Philosophy.” A year later, he obtained a doctorate from the University of Leipzig for his work on the psychology and physiology of the human brain and nervous system. 

After returning to Poland, he moved to Lwów (today’s Lviv), where he was habilitated in 1875, becoming associate professor of psychology and natural philosophy. He taught at the University of Lwów, at the same time dealing with experiments in electricity and electromagnetism and the study of phenomena in parapsychology, especially hypnotism and the electrical properties of the human body. In 1878, he described in a scientifically correct manner the basic problems whose solution allowed the creation of television. 

In 1882 Ochorowicz went to Paris, where he devoted himself to scientific research, hypnosis experiments and inventive activities in telephony. He realized many design solutions, including an iron filing microphone, a magnetic telephone, a thermomicrophone and an improved carbon microphone. His inventions attracted the interest not only of scientists, but also of the French postal and military authorities. The apparatuses of his system, conducting voice more clearly than others, were produced commercially in France. In addition, Ochorowicz built his own galvanometer for parapsychological research and conducted research in phototechnics. His writing output includes not only scientific works, but also journalistic and literary works. He died on May 1, 1917, in Warsaw.