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The history of Durex condoms has two key contributors, not one. Lionel A. Jackson founded the London Rubber Company and built its business; Lucian Landau, a Polish teenager who arrived in London in 1929, developed the latex-dipping technology behind its mass-produced condoms. Historian Jessica Borge’s archival research brought Landau’s overlooked role back into view.
Who invented Durex condoms?
“Invented Durex” compresses several different achievements into one phrase. Jackson founded and commercialized the company, registered the Durex name, and developed a way to supply condoms. Landau’s contribution was technical: Borge credits him with developing the manufacturing technology that made Durex condoms possible at scale.
| Contributor | Role | Evidence and attribution |
|---|---|---|
| Lionel A. Jackson | Founded the London Rubber Company, registered the Durex name, and built its commercial supply model. | Reckitt’s company retrospective and Jessica Borge’s historical account. |
| Lucian Landau | Developed the latex-dipping and manufacturing technology behind Durex’s mass-produced condom. | Historian Jessica Borge’s archival reconstruction; Reckitt also describes his collaboration with Jackson on latex dipping. |
The company retrospective confirms a collaboration, but the stronger account of Landau’s specific technical role comes from Borge’s historical research. The available evidence does not support presenting him as the sole inventor of Durex.
How a Polish teenager came to London Rubber
Landau was 17 in 1929, when he came from Warsaw to London to study rubber technology. In his autobiography, quoted by Borge, he recalled: “I felt more at home here than I ever felt in Warsaw.” That is Landau’s personal recollection of settling in London, rather than an independent description of his experience.
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Jackson had established the London Rubber Company in London in 1915. Reckitt says it initially traded in rubber goods, including gloves, waterproof sheets, and protective sheaths imported from Germany. When the Durex name appeared in a UK trademark application by Jackson in 1929, the company was moving toward a distinct condom brand.
From latex research to mass production
Reckitt says Jackson and Landau spent three years researching and developing latex-dipping technology. Borge’s interpretation distinguishes their contributions: Jackson supplied the commercial model, while Landau developed the manufacturing technology. Durex condom production began in 1932.
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The chronology helps separate the company, brand, and product milestones:
- 1915: Jackson founded the London Rubber Company.
- 1929: The Durex name appeared in a UK trademark application; Landau was 17 and studying rubber technology in London.
- 1929–1932: Jackson and Landau researched and developed latex-dipping technology, according to Reckitt.
- 1932: Durex condom production began.
Why Landau’s role was forgotten
Borge describes how she pieced together Landau’s part in the story. She found his name in London Rubber correspondence with the Family Planning Association and in patents. Yet he was absent from the limited company documents she examined at Vestry House Museum and from the company magazine she consulted. A rare, self-published autobiography at the British Library provided another strand of evidence, which she compared with the other material.
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Borge concludes that Landau left London Rubber in 1953 and was subsequently erased from the company’s official history. That explanation is her interpretation of the archival record she examined, not a finding from a complete review of every archive. Her account reframes the question “Who actually invented Durex condoms?” as a story about how a technical contributor can disappear from a company’s public history.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the later timeline can—and cannot—tell us
Durex’s UK history dates electronic testing to 1953, while a Reckitt article gives 1952. The evidence therefore places the introduction of electronic testing in the early 1950s, but the sources do not agree on a specific year. Claims that Durex was first to introduce particular products or practices should be understood as claims made by the brand, not as independently established conclusions.
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Reckitt says Durex joined the company through its 2010 acquisition of SSL International. The Science Museum Group’s chronology adds that UK production stopped in 2007 and moved to China, India, and Thailand; that account provides company context but does not discuss Landau.
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Sources
- Reckitt, “Durex: under the microscope” (2020)
- Durex UK, “Durex History”
- Jessica Borge, “The forgotten history of the teenage immigrant who invented Durex condoms,” republished by Scroll.in from The Conversation (2021)
- Science Museum Group, “Durex 1915”
- Bill Bayliss, Walthamstow Memories, “London Rubber Co.”
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