Kálmán Kandó de Egerfarmos et Sztregova (egerfarmosi és sztregovai Kandó Kálmán; 10 July 1869 – 13 January 1931) was a Hungarian engineer, the inventor of phase converter and a pioneer in the development of AC electric railway traction. Education and Family Kálmán Kandó was born on July 8, 1869 in Pest into an ancient Hungarian noble family. His father was Géza Kandó (1840-1906) his mother was Irma Gulácsy (1845-1933). He began his grammar school studies at the Budapest Lutheran High School, at the Sütő street. His parents transferred him from a crowded school to a smaller school, a practice grammar school founded by Mór Kármán. He was enrolled in Budapest Technical University. In 1892 he received a degree in mechanical engineering. He completed his studies with excellent qualifications. He successfully used his knowledge of mechanics and electricity later in his career. Kandó served as a volunteer for the Austro-Hungarian Navy until 1893. He married Ilona Mária Petronella Posch (1880-1913) in Terézváros on February 2, 1899. Their first child - who was also named Kálmán - was born in the winter of 1899, and their daughter Ilona Sára was born in 1901. On July 9, 1913, his wife died of renal failure in Rozsnyó. His son Kálmán became a military officer. On October 18, 1922, his son Kálmán committed suicide with a service pistol ( under unclear circumstances ) in a military barrack. His daughter Ilona Mária was married on July 7, 1923, and his grandson, George (also an engineer), was born on June 5, 1924. Work on railway electrification France After his military service, he traveled to France in the autumn of 1893, and worked for the Fives-Lille Company as a junior engineer, where he designed and developed early induction motors for locomotives. For the manufacture of induction motors, he developed a completely new design-calculation procedure, which made it possible to produce economical AC traction motors for the Fives Lille Company. Within a year, Kandó was appointed as the chief engineer of the electric motor development at the French firm. András Mechwart (the Ganz and Co.’s managing director at that time) asked him to return to Hungary in 1894 and invited him to work at the Electrical Engineering Department of the Ganz Works. Ganz Company, Budapest In 1894, Kálmán Kandó developed high-voltage three phase alternating current motors and generators for electric locomotives; he is known as the father of the