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Zacharias Janssen

Zacharias Janssen
Zacharias Janssen
Born1585 (1580)
DiedGiven as before 1632 (sometimes 1638)
NationalityDutch
Other namesZacharias Janssen, Sacharias Jansen
OccupationSpectacle-maker (sometimes counterfeiter)
Known forPossible inventor of the microscope and the telescope (posthumous claim)
Parents
  • Hans Mertens (father)
  • Mayken Provoost Bacher (mother)

Zacharias Janssen; also Zacharias Jansen or Sacharias Jansen; 1585 – pre-1632[1]) was a Dutch spectacle-maker who lived most of his life in Middelburg. He is associated with the invention of the first optical telescope and/or the first truly compound microscope, but these claims (made 20 years after his death) may be fabrications put forward by his son.

  1. ^ Birth dates range from 1580 to 1588, death given as late as 1638.

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