The credit for inventing the first refracting telescope is generally given to Dutch mathematician and astronomer, Hans Lippershey. In 1608, Lippershey, also known as Jan Lippershey, applied for a patent for his invention of a "spyglass" or "perspective glass," which was essentially a refracting telescope.
Lippershey's telescope consisted of a convex objective lens and a concave eyepiece lens. The objective lens gathered light and converged it to a focal point, forming an image, which was then magnified by the eyepiece lens for observation. This basic design of a refracting telescope, using lenses to bend and focus light, laid the foundation for future developments in telescope technology.
It's worth noting that while Lippershey is often credited with the invention of the refracting telescope, there were other contemporaries, such as fellow Dutchman Jacob Metius and Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei, who also made significant contributions to the development and improvement of early telescopes around the same time.