Igor Vasilyevich Kurchatov

Igor Vasilyevich Kurchatov was an outstanding physicist who devoted his entire life to strengthening the country’s might. He was the founder of nuclear science, nuclear instrument engineering, nuclear and thermonuclear weapons. Kurchatov’s name is given to the scientific center and an atomic power station, an element of the periodic table, a lunar crater, a research vessel, and a city. The Academy of Sciences established a prize and a gold medal in his honor. His name stands alongside such outstanding figures as Fermi and Joliot-Curie.