Famous Russian Scientists and their Discoveries
Russia is the native country of many renowned scientists. They made discoveries in various fields, from physics to ophthalmology, and also found practical application of their theories. People across the world use their inventions.
Mikhail Lomonosov
Lomonosov made many discoveries in various fields: he is regarded as the first to
discover the law of mass conservation (1760) and to establish mechanistic caloric theory and the
chemistry of minerals and glass. Lomonosov is the founder of Russia's first classical university –
Moscow State University (1755).
Nikolay Lobachevsky
The founder of hyperbolic geometry (1829) which was later recognized as a valid
alternative to Euclidean geometry. Graduated from Kazan
University where he later held the position of professor and then rector.
Pafnuty Chebyshev
Made several breakthrough discoveries in mechanics and mathematics. Chebyshev
designed over 40 mechanisms still used in the modern automotive industry and instrumentation.
Sofia Kovalevskaya
Made a series of discoveries in mathematics. She was awarded the Prize of the Royal
Swedish Academy of Sciences for her thesis on integrable rigid body motion (1888).
Aleksander Stoletov
Russian physicist who worked in electrical engineering, optics and molecular
physics. He designed and constructed the first photoelectric element, a device which transforms the
energy of photons into electricity.
Dmitri Mendeleev
Mendeleev formulated the Periodic Law and created his own version of the periodic
table of elements (1869). The system that he devised made it possible to correct the properties of some
elements that had already been discovered and also to predict the properties of elements yet to be
discovered. His discovery is viewed as the most significant contribution to materials chemistry.
Alexander Popov
He was one of the first to find practical applications of electromagnetic waves,
particularly in wireless communication. He designed and built a state-of-the-art radio receiver that was
unique for its time (1895).
Alexander Butlerov
Butlerov is one of the principal creators of the theory of chemical structure. He
was a graduate of Kazan University.
Later he taught at St. Petersburg University.
Sergey Botkin
Botkin created the theory of a living organism as a unified whole. He was the first
to suggest that catarrhal jaundice (hepatitis) or Botkin's disease was caused by an infection.
Nikolay Pirogov
Pirogov is considered the founder of field surgery, regional anatomy and the
founder of the Russian school of anesthesia. Surgery became a science thanks to him.
Ivan Pavlov
Pavlov is the founder of physiology of higher nervous activity. He is the first
Russian Nobel Prize winner (1904). He received awards for physiology of digestion.
Élie Metchnikoff
The founder of comparative pathology, evolutionary fetology and immunology.
Mechnikov discovered phagocytosis. Mechnikov is the founder of gerontology. He was awarded a Nobel Prize
for his contribution to the study of the immune system (1908).
Alexander Mozhaysky
Mozhaysky was a naval officer and inventor. He designed, built and tested one of
the world's first airplanes (1882).
Nikolay Zhukovsky
Zhukovsky is the founding father of Russian aeronautics. He is also the founder of
modern hydrodynamics. A graduate and later a professor at Moscow State University.
Vladimir Zworykin
An engineer and inventor. Born and educated in Russia. One the founding fathers and
pioneers of television. He invented the cathode ray tube (1929), iconoscope (1931), electrooptical
television system (1933) and laid the basis for colour television (1940s).
Pavel Cherenkov
Cherenkov is the author of several groundbreaking discoveries in physical optics,
nuclear and high-energy physics. He was awarded a Nobel Prize for Physics in 1958.
Nikolay Vavilov
Vavilov was a botanist and geneticist, best known for establishing the scientific
bases of selection and the study of world centres of the origin of cultivated plants. He is the author
of the doctrine of plant immunity.
Lev Landau
Landau is the author of the "Course of Theoretical Physics", which has been
republished many times in 20 languages. He made major contributions to all spheres of physical science,
from quantum mechanics to plasma physics. In 1962 he received the Nobel Prize for Physics for his
research of the superfluidity of helium.
Nikolay Basov
One of the creators of the first quantum generator and a range of lasers. Nobel
Prize winner for Physics in 1964. A graduate of the Moscow Engineering Physics
Institute.
Alexander Prokhorov
A inventor of laser technologies. He created a range of lasers. Nobel Prize winner
for Physics in 1964.
Pyotr Kapitsa
He is a winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1978 for his discovery of
superfluidity of liquid helium. He designed a commercial installation for gas liquefaction. A graduate
of the Peter the Great St. Petersburg
Polytechnic University. One of the founders of the Moscow Institute of Physics and
Technology.
Bogdanov
Leonid Kantorovich
A mathematician, economist, and the founder of linear programming. A winner of a
Nobel Prize for Economics in 1975.
Nikolay Semyonov
One of the founders of chemical physics. He is mostly known for his research of
chain reactions. A winner of a Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1958. He graduated from the department of
physics of Petrograd University and taught at Tomsk Polytechnic Institute and Tomsk University. One of the
founders of the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.
Igor Kurchatov
Author of several breakthrough discoveries in nuclear physics. Among them: the
first nuclear reactor in Europe, the first Russian A-bomb and the first fusion bomb. In 1954 he was in
charge of building the first nuclear power plant in Obninsk, USSR
sakharov-center.ru
Andrei Sakharov
A pioneer of controlled thermonuclear research. One of the leading figures in the
Soviet thermonuclear bomb project (1953). A renowned human rights activist and winner of the Nobel Peace
Prize in 1975.
Sergey Korolev
Korolev was a leading Soviet rocket engineer and spacecraft designer and is
considered by many as the father of practical astronautics. Among his major achievements are the first
successful launch of an orbiting satellite (1957) and the first manned space flight of Yuri Gagarin
(1961).
Mikhail Mil
Aerospace engineer and scientist. The creator of the 'Mi' helicopter series. A
graduate of Tomsk Polytechnic
Institute.
Andrei Tupolev
Aircraft designer. In 1968, Tupolev introduced the world's first supersonic
airliner, the Tu-144. Over 70 types of aircraft were designed and put into mass production under his
supervision.
Svyatoslav Fyodorov
An ophthalmologist and microsurgeon. In 1962, in cooperation with Valery Zakharov,
he created one of the world's most rigid intraocular lenses. In 1973, he developed a new surgical
technique to treat the early stage of the glaucoma. Consequently his method became widely used.
Zhores Alferov
An author of over 500 scientific papers and around 50 inventions in semiconductor
and quantum electronics. In particular, Alferov invented the first stable transistor. He was awarded a
Nobel Prize for Physics in 2000. A graduate of the Leningrad Electrotechnical Institute.
Grigori Perelman
One of the most renowned contemporary mathematicians. He solved the Poincaré
conjecture, one of the seven Millennium Prize Problems (2002).
Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov
Graduates of the Moscow
Institute of Physics and Technology. Winners of a Nobel Prize for Physics in 2010 for their study of
graphene, the material which is supposed to define the future of electronics.
Yuri Oganesyan
Leads research aimed at the synthesis of new chemical elements. From 1999–2010, he
and his colleagues were the first to synthesize 6 superheavy elements ahead of their western
counterparts.
Alexei Starobinsky
A pioneer of the "inflation theory" that explains the birth of the universe. Winner
of the Kavli Prize for Astrophysics (2014).
Rashid Sunyaev
One of the authors of the theory currently known as the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect
under which electrons associated with gas in galaxy clusters gradually scatter cosmic microwave
background radiation. Winner of the Kyoto Prize (2011), an award given for making the world better.
Office
Mikhail Lukin
Graduate of the Moscow
Institute of Physics and Technology. Professor at Harvard University. He proved that a beam of light
can be halted in an environment and then controlled with a laser. The technology he developed can be
used in quantum computers – a new step in the technological development of humanity.
Kovalev
Artem Oganov
A graduate of Lomonosov Moscow State University who worked at the Moscow Institute of Physics and
Technology. Professor at Stony Brook University (New York). He is known mostly for his work on the
discovery of computational materials and crystal structure prediction. He holds numerous prestigious
prizes, including an ETH Latsis Prize, Research Excellence Medal of the European Mineralogical Union,
and three most-cited paper awards from Elsevier. He created laboratories in China and in Russia.
Dmitry Svergun
Graduate of Lomonosov Moscow State University. Gained worldwide recognition for new
practical applications of X-ray radiation. Professor, Habil. PhD. He is the head of the European
Molecular Biology Research Laboratory in Hamburg.
Vladimir Krasnopolsky
Made several discoveries concerning our Solar System. He was one of the creators of
spectrometers for the first Soviet interplanetary probes. He discovered the ozone layer, helium and
methane in the atmosphere of Mars.
Forschungsinstitut
Oberwolfach
Alexander Holevo
Author of 170 papers, including books published abroad. He made a substantial
contribution to the mathematical foundations of quantum information science. He is the holder of three
international awards: Quantum Communication Award (1996), Alexander von Humboldt Research Award (1999)
and Claude E. Shannon Award (2016). Graduate of the Moscow Institute of Physics and
Technology.
Eugene Kaspersky
A world-renowned expert in cyber security. He is the creator of anti-virus software
that is designed to protect users against computer viruses, trojans, spyware, and unknown threats.
Eugene Kaspersky is listed by Foreign Policy as one of the Top-100 Global Thinkers of 2012. He holds an
Honorary Doctorate of Technology degree from Plymouth University.
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