Penkala was born in Liptovský Mikuláš (in what is now Slovakia), to a Polish/Dutch family. He finished schooling in Vienna and Dresden. He then immigrated with his family to Zagreb and subsequently added "Slavoljub" to his name, also becoming a naturalized Croat.
He became renowned for his inventions of the first mechanical pencil (1906) (then called "automatic pencil") and the first solid-ink fountain pen (1907). Together with an enterpreneur by the name of Edmund Moster, he started a factory of pens and pencils "Penkala-Moster" that was one of the bigger in the world at the time, and still exists today (named "TOZ-Penkala", where TOZ stood for "Tvornica olovaka Zagreb", meaning "Zagreb pencil factory").
He also constructed the first Croatian two-seat aeroplane in 1909. He constructed and invented many other products and devices, and has under his name a total of 80 patents.
Among his patented inventions are:
a hot water bottle (his first patented invention, the "Termofor"),
He also founded another factory named "Elevator" that produced various chemistry-related items, such as "Radium Vinovica", a patent-medicine-like product sold as curing various forms of rheumatism.
Penkala died rather abruptly in Zagreb at the age of 51, after picking up pneumonia on a business trip.
The principle of this toothbrush was that it did not require a person to brush his or her teeth themself, instead the brush rotated around its axis and in the process brushed the teeth on both sides.
As Penkala himself did not possess sufficient capital, on October 5, 1911, he signed a 10-year contract with the Edmund and Gavro Moster & Co. for the production of penkalas and other affiliated inventions, on the condition that his share be 6000 kronen per year and 33 1/3 of shares.
Penkala completed his two-seater aeroplane built according to his concept and drawings in 1909, and in 1910 he flew it.
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