Bartolomé Cayol

Bartolomé Cayol (c. 1800–1877) was a French businessman, engineer, pioneer in the industrial production of the Argentine Republic.[1] He settled in Buenos Aires dedicating himself to the manufacture of cheap kitchens and wood-burning heaters.[2]

He was born in Toulon, France, the son of a distinguished Provencal family.[3] He did his elementary studies in his native country, and tertiary in Germany where he graduated as an industrial engineer. For the year 1835, Cayol was established in Buenos Aires,[4] where he opened a factory of iron kitchens.[5]

He had an active participation in the beginning of the industrial activities of Argentina, and was a founding member of Club Industrial of Buenos Aires in 1875.[6]

He was married to Margarita Kerkis, daughter of Thomas Kerkis, born in England, and Zenobia San Vicente, belonging to a Creole family, originally from the Province of Buenos Aires. His son, Carlos Cayol Kerkis was a pioneer of telephony in Argentina. In 1878, together with Fernando Newman, he made the first telephone tests of the country, conducting successful tests from the office of the State Telegraph and the newspaper La Prensa.[7]