To celebrate International Wheelchair Day on the 1st March, Research Fellow Kay Nias explores the history behind what has arguably been the most important mobility device in history.
While it is uncertain as to what can be considered the first wheelchair, stone inscriptions from Ancient China and Greece suggest that wheelchair-type furniture has been used at least since the sixth century AD.
Perhaps one of the best-documented early examples, however, was made by an unknown inventor for King Philip of Spain (1527-98), in 1595, who in his later years suffered from severe gout which made walking difficult. This chair was elaborate in its design with plush upholstery, arm and leg rests, and four small wheels which meant that he (conveniently) needed to be pushed around by a servant.
The first self-propelled wheelchair was invented in 1655 by paraplegic clock-maker of Nuremberg, Germany Stephan Farfler (1633-1689), who built his own mobility aid when he was only 22 after having broken his back as a child.
