Aleksandr Stepanovich Popov (1859-1906) is acclaimed in Russia as the inventor of radio. Popov was the son of a village priest and planned to enter the priesthood, but his interests changed to mathematics and then to electrical engineering. He became an instructor at the Russian Navy's Torpedo School. Learning of Hertz's work, in 1895 Popov constructed an apparatus that could register electrical disturbances due to lightning, and then suggested that it could be used for receiving man-made signals. In 1896, he demonstrated the transmission of radio wave signals between different parts of the University of St. Petersburg. Because there is evidence that Marconi demonstrated the transmission of intelligible signals even earlier however, Marconi's priority is usually conceded outside Russia.