Ernst Werner von Siemens

Werner von Siemens (in full, Ernst Werner von Siemens) (December 13, 1816 - December 6, 1892), German inventor and industrialist. He invented a telegraph that used a needle to point to the right letter, instead of using Morse code. Based on this invention, Siemens founded the company Siemens AG on October 12, 1847 and retired from it in 1890.

See also his brothers Sir William Siemens (1823-1883) and Carl von Siemens (1829-1906), sons Arnold von Siemens (1853-1918), Wilhelm von Siemens (1855-1919), and Carl Friedrich von Siemens (1872-1941), his nephews Hermann von Siemens (1885-1986), Ernst von Siemens (1903-1990), and Peter von Siemens (1911-1986)

Siemens' name has been adopted as the SI unit of electrical conductance, the siemens.

Corporate bio, http://w4.siemens.de/archiv/de/persoenlichkeiten/gruender/werner.html