Ivan Petrovich Kublin (1735 - 1818) was a famous Russian mechanic and inventor. His area of expertise was various clock based mechanisms, which he used to make his first screw based elevator in 1793.
He was born in Nizhny Novgorod (present-day Gorky) on April 21, 1735 as a son of small merchant. He soon developed skill with mechanical tools and at 1969 Russian queen Catherine II appointed him as the head of St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. There he worked on many devices including various clocks that measured time, date, months, seasons, years and even moon phases, self propelled carriages, prosthetic mechanical legs and designs for several bridges.
In 1793 Kublin made his first elevator that was powered by screw type lift mechanisms. One of his elevators was immediately installed in official residence of Russian tsars – WinterPalace in Saint Petersburg and later in Moscow. Thirty years later elevator based on his designs was installed in London.
After being fired from the academy in 1801 Kublin returned to his birthplace where he remained to his death in 1818. He continued working on various devices, inventing several types of steam engines, machines, and a method for ships to sail rivers upstream.
His elevator screw type lift mechanisms paved the way for the modern day elevator.