Aleksandrov, Anatolii Petrovich

Aleksandrov, Anatolii Petrovich 

Born Jan. 31 (Feb. 13), 1903, inTarashchi, Kiev Oblast. Soviet physicist. Became an academician of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (AN SSSR) in 1953; had been a corresponding member since 1943. Member of the CPSU since 1962. Member of the Central Committee of the CPSU since 1966.

After graduating in 1930 from Kiev University, Aleksandrov worked at the Physical and Technological Institute of the AN USSR. He directed the Institute of Physical Problems of the AN SSSR during 1946–55; in 1960 he became director of the I. V. Kurchatov Institute of Atomic Energy. Aleksandrov has worked on the physics of dielectrics and the properties of high molecular compounds. He proposed a statistical theory of the stability of solids. In 1936 he developed a method of protecting ships from mines which was used in the Great Patriotic War. Since 1946 he has been working on nuclear reactors, including those for the atomic energy industry. He is twice a Hero of Socialist Labor (1954, 1960) and recipient of the Lenin Prize (1959) and State Prizes of the USSR (1942, 1949, 1951, 1953). Aleksandrov was awarded six Orders of Lenin and other orders and medals. He was a deputy of the Fifth and Sixth Supreme Soviets of the USSR.