Denys Fisher Denys Fisher Denys Fisher (11 May 1918 – 17 September 2002) was an English engineer who invented the spirograph toy and created the company Denys Fisher Toys. He left Leeds University to join the family firm, Kingfisher (Lubrication) Ltd. In 1960 he left the firm to set up his own company, Denys Fisher Engineering, in Leeds. In 1961 the company won a contract with NATO to supply springs and precision components for its 20 mm cannon. Between 1962 and 1964 he developed various drawing machines from Meccano pieces, eventually producing a prototype Spirograph. Patented in 16 countries, it went on
Denys family Denys family The surname Denys was borne by at least three prominent mediaeval families seated in Gloucestershire, Somerset and Devon in south-west England between 1166 and 1641. It is not known if any relationship existed between these families. The surname "Denys" is just one of many variant spellings of the name: "Denise", "Le Deneis", "Le Danies", "le Deneys" and most recently "Dennis", are some of the others. The family of Denys was apparently of Danish origin, and was recorded in early Norman charters in French as "le Deneys", meaning "The Dane", which was frequently Latinised by scribes as Dacus, being