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George Constant Louis Washington (May 20, 1871 – March 29, 1946) was an American inventor and businessman of Anglo-Belgian origin. He is best remembered for his invention of an early instant coffee process and for the company he founded to mass-produce it, the ''G. Washington Coffee Company''.〔 An emigrant from his native Belgium, he arrived in the New York area in 1897 and dabbled in several technical fields before hitting upon instant coffee manufacture during a sojourn in Central America in 1906 or 1907. He began selling his coffee in 1909 and founded a company to manufacture it in 1910. Based in New York and New Jersey, his company prospered and became an important military supplier during World War I. The company's products were also advertised in New York newspapers and on the radio. The success of his company made Washington wealthy, and he lived in a mansion in Brooklyn and then moved to a country estate in New Jersey in 1927. In that same year, he lost a dispute with the tax authorities. Washington was married and had three children. Washington's company was sold to American Home Products in 1943, shortly before his death. Though the coffee brand was discontinued by 1961, Washington's name is still used today in the product ''G. Washington's Seasoning & Broth''. ==Early life== George Washington was born in Kortrijk, Belgium to Jean Guillaume Washington (John William Washington) of England and Marie Louise Tant of Belgium, on May 20, 1871.〔 containing George Washington; 1900 US Census; Staten Island; New York City〕〔〔"G. Washington Is Dead, Made Instant Coffee", ''The New York Herald Tribune'', March 29, 1946.〕 Following then-current nationality law, which considered fatherhood primary, Washington was a British subject until he was naturalized as an American in May 1918.〔 At least six siblings in the family also settled in different parts of the United States and Central America.〔 A number of accounts claim a relation to U.S. President George Washington, but this is not clearly explained. Washington came to reside in Brussels and also attained a degree in chemistry at the University of Bonn in Germany.〔 In December 1895, Washington married Angeline Céline Virginie (later, just "Lina") Van Nieuwenhuyse (born 1876), also from Belgium.〔〔"Mrs. George Washington" (1876–1952), obituary, ''The New York Times'', October 30, 1952.〕 The US Census of 1900 records that Lina, like her husband, had English and Belgian ancestry (a Belgian father and an English mother).〔 The Washingtons' arrival in the United States on a ship from Antwerp, Belgium, on October 6, 1896, was recorded at Ellis Island, though the 1900 US Census states that they emigrated to the United States in 1897.〔 The Washingtons settled in the New York area, where they had three children:〔〔The birthplace of the Washingtons' eldest daughter (born May 1897) is given in the 1900 US Census as Belgium, despite the Washingtons arriving at Ellis Island in October 1896. The US Census also records the year of their emigration to the USA as 1897. The other two children are recorded in the census as being born in New York.〕 Louisa Washington (born May 1897),〔 Irene Washington (born May 1898),〔 and George Washington Jr. (born August 1899).〔〔George Washington, Jr. was born on August 6, 1899 and died on December 1, 1966 in Morristown, New Jersey; Social Security Death Index.〕 After arriving in the New York area, Washington founded a company producing kerosene gas mantles.〔 At this time, they lived in New Brighton on Staten Island, but his company, George Washington Lighting Company, was based in nearby Jersey City. This business was abandoned with the maturation of incandescent light bulb technology.〔 Washington also had a camera company for a time. By the time of the 1900 US Census, Washington, recorded in the census as an inventor, was 29 years old and living in a rented house in Brooklyn with his 23-year-old wife, their three young children, his younger sister (age 25), three servants, and a child of two of the servants.〔 Washington tried his hand at cattle ranching〔 in Guatemala in 1906〔〔 or 1907〔 while, in the meantime, developed his instant coffee process. Washington returned to New York City after only a period of about a year〔 in Guatemala, and then began pursuing the main part of his career in coffee manufacture. His father remained in Guatemala and died there in 1912. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「George Washington (inventor)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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