Lewis Gompertz

Lewis Gompertz ( – 2 December 1861) was an English writer and inventor, and early animal rights and veganism advocate. He was a founding member, in June 1824, of the English Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals; later the RSPCA. Gompertz was the younger brother of the mathematician and actuary Benjamin Gompertz and the poet Isaac Gompertz. Biography Gompertz was born into a large and wealthy family of London diamond merchants, the fifth son of his father Solomon Barent Gompertz's (1729 – ) second marriage. Being Jewish, Gompertz and his siblings were not allowed to attend university and instead received an informal education. Gompertz was a vegan and opposed to humans intentionally using animals for human interests in any way. He refused to wear leather or silk and declined to ride in coaches due to the suffering of the horses. He was the inventor of a multitude of inventions—including the expanding chuck—many of them designed to reduce animal suffering. In 1821, Gompertz invented an improved velocipede, an early form of bicycle. His machine was powered by pulling on the steering handles, which drove a rack and pinion mechanism, which in turn rotated the front wheel.