Besson, Gustav Auguste

1820-1875

French manufacturer of musical instruments, who made notable improvements in the mechanism of wind-instruments. He was born in Paris, the son of a colonel in the French army, and early showed both a fondness for music and an interest in mechanics. He was barely eighteen when he produced an improved cornet, the Besson Model, the name by which it is still called. He has place among the best makers of wind-instruments, his numerous inventions and improvements being of the highest value. His most noteworthy contribution was the Prototype System, which made possible the manufacture of any number of instruments exactly alike.