The Inventor Emik Avakian

According to the source, the modern hand-operated wheelchair was invented by Emik Avakian, who was himself disabled from birth. For this invention he received an award from US President John Kennedy.

Emik Avakian was born in 1923 in Tabriz. Doctors diagnosed him with a severe form of cerebral palsy. To take him to doctors abroad, the family moved first to Russia, then to Germany, and finally settled in New York. Despite his illness, Emik graduated with honours from Eureka College and then earned a master’s degree in physics and mathematics at Columbia University. He patented 57 inventions, and in 1961 he received from Kennedy the award “For the most outstanding contribution to the employment of the disabled.” He died in July 2013 at the age of 89.

The photograph shows him seated in a wheelchair in front of a device with a screen.