BENTZ, Melitta, German housewife. The inventor of the Melitta Filter for preparation of coffee with a higher quality. She punched holes in the bottom of a pewter can and placed an absorbent disc of paper above the holes. The coffee powder was put on top of the absorbent disk, and boiling water poured in while the container was sitting on the coffee-pot. Modern coffee filters are still of similar design. Melitta invented them in 1908 and they were introduced at the Leipzig Trade Fair a year later, she sold a great many there.