Béla Barényi

Béla Barényi (1 March 1907 in Hirtenberg, Austria – 30 May 1997 in Boeblingen, Germany) was an Austrian engineer, of Hungarian heritage and Austrian heritage (from his father's and mother's side, respectively). He is regarded as the father of passive safety in automobiles. He was born in Hirtenberg, Austria near Vienna, Austria during the Austro-Hungarian Empire. His father Jenő Berényi (1866–1917) was a Hungarian officer, a teacher at the military academy at Pressburg, a former Hungarian capital (now more commonly known as Bratislava after the creation of Czechoslovakia following World War I and the Treaty of Trianon).

Barényi was known as a prolific inventor. There have been claims that, when he retired on 31 December 1972, he had more than 2000 patents, twice as many as Thomas Edison; and claims that Barényi had over 2500 patents by 2009. However, the claims include patents filed in multiple countries for the same invention, which are not separate inventions. Barényi's patent count documented at the European Patent Office is 1,244 worldwide with 595 of those filed in Germany, the primary filing country of his primary employer.