Hedy Lamarr

Inventor of Wi-Fi

If I tell you that Hedy Lamarr was a famous Hollywood actress, you probably imagine a beautiful woman whose life was a bit superficial. But, as often happens, stereotypes are unfounded and Lamarr was also a great inventor.

Since childhood she was singled out for her intelligence and at sixteen began studying Engineering. At nineteen she gave up her Degree to study at the Berlin Theatre, but continued her engineering studies unofficially. Forced to marry an arms magnate, Lamarr became a virtual prisoner. She was confined to her house, so she decided to escape and took her husband’s contacts to obtain secret information from informers.

She fled to the United States where she combined her acting and scientific career, developing a secret communications system known as the “frequency hopping technique”, forerunner of today’s Wi-Fi.