Shankar Abaji Bhisey, Sunker Abaji Bhisey, Shanker Abaji Bhise or Sunker Bisey Abaji (he used the form Bisey in the US) (29 April 1867 – 7 April 1935) was a self-taught Indian inventor who was once called by the New York American as the "Edison of India". Sponsored by Indian nationalists, he moved to England where his inventions included a type-setting machine for the printing industry, an advertising innovation and so on. He then moved to the US where he designed a modification of the then popular ouija board where the supposed message of the spirit was printed onto a strip of paper. This spirit typewriter was patented in the US on 27 June 1922. He made no money from it but shortly after that he promoted a form of iodine termed as "atomidine" as a patent medicine, promoted by the American psychic Edgar Cayce, earned him royalty and fame. He had nearly 200 inventions to his credit with 40 of them patented.
Life and work
Bhisey was born in Bombay. His father Abaji had been a court worker, a Munsif to a Shirestadar before becoming a Sadar Amin at Surat. After his father moved to Jalgaon, Bhisey spent time reading Scientific American and conducting experiments. He had only a high school education but was interested in tinkering with mechanical devices. He began a Scientific Club in Bombay which had meetings each month. He was also involved in other activities including mentalism, magic tricks, and seances - associating also with the theosophists of the period who admired his abilities as a traditional Indian necromancer. After his father passed away in 1893, he accepted an offer to go to England to show his inventions (of optical illusions and mind reading) with support from Sayajirao Gaikwad of Baroda, and he drew the interests of Dadabhai Naoroji, Ratan Tata and G.K. Gokhale. He examined paper pulping in England and returned to India to try to obtain a job at the Girgaon Paper Mill in 1896 but failed. During the same year, he volunteered in the plague management efforts in Fanaswadi Ward of Bombay. His community, people in the caste of Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu, had ostracised him for undertaking a sea voyage but in 1898 he was honoured for his work during the plague.