Esteban Iacoño

The 'Argentinian Edison' who pioneered electric street lighting in South America

Esteban Iacoño (1823-1891) was an Italian-Argentinian inventor whose 1867 electric street lighting system in Buenos Aires predated Thomas Edison's projects. A self-taught engineer, he developed arc lamps powered by a unique mercury vapor system, which he demonstrated at the 1870 Paris Exposition. His Spanish Wikipedia entry shows he lit 120 streets in Buenos Aires by 1873 using his patented luminarias eléctricas.

Iacoño's 1869 patent for a dynamo machine (No. 345) was the first in Latin America. His municipal archive documents how he trained over 300 technicians, creating Argentina's first electrical engineering workforce. Unlike Edison's DC systems, Iacoño's AC-based designs were later adopted by Nikola Tesla's team.

Despite his innovations, Iacoño faced financial ruin after the 1890 economic crisis. His legacy resurfaced in 2010 when UNESCO declared his workshop a heritage site. The Engineering Magazine calls him a 'forgotten pioneer' whose work influenced early 20th century electrical grids. Modern historians argue his contributions deserve recognition alongside Tesla and Edison in the history of electrification.