Hedy Lamarr by Manuel Ruz

Hedy Lamarr was born Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler in Vienna on November 9, 1914. She was the only daughter of a banker from Lemberg and a pianist from Budapest who, although of Jewish origin, had been raised in Catholicism. At school, she stood out for her intellectual brilliance and was considered gifted by her teachers. At home, she grew up listening to her mother's piano performances, and from an early age she herself played this instrument to perfection. Complex and restless, she abandoned her engineering studies, determined to fulfill her dream of becoming an actress. Her discoverer, the impresario and theater and film director Max Reinhardt, took her to Berlin for acting training, after which they returned to Vienna to start working in the film industry.

Hedy met George Antheil at a party during the war, at a time when Hedy was often making inventions with film director Howard Hughes, who was trying to design faster airplanes. George Antheil was a brilliant musician with a creative mind and, like Hedy, had finished high school at the age of 15.

Hedy and George came up with three different inventions. One of these was a secure secret secret radio guidance communication system, using frequency hopping technology(wifi), developed to help Allied naval forces chase U boots in the North Atlantic. Hedy was desperate to develop her invention so that her mother could travel from London to the United States of America in complete safety.

What happened to her invention?

When Hedy patented his technology, he gave the patent to the U.S. Navy, but unfortunately they didn't take it seriously. They said the invention was too gimmicky and that it was not a useful military technology. What they really meant was that they found it unlikely that an actress and musical artist had invented a technology that could be of use to them. In fact, it was cutting-edge technology and some claim it could have shortened the War by a year or more, and it was the size of a watch face.

Hedy gained some recognition and received an award in the 1990s, just as mobile telephony began to catch on. She also received an award from Milstar, the system in charge of operating the military communications satellites that provide secure communications to the Armed Forces and the President of the United States of America. That was a great achievement for her.

Lamarr died in Florida on January 19, 2000 at the age of eighty-five.

"Any girl can be glamorous. All you have to do is stand still and look stupid."

-Hedy Lamarr