Legasov, Valerii

Legasov, Valerii Alekseevich 

Born Sept. 1, 1936, in Tula. Soviet inorganic chemist. Corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (1976). Member of the CPSU since 1959.

Legasov graduated from the D. I. Mendeleev Moscow Institute of Chemical Engineering in 1961. In 1964 he joined the staff of the I. V. Kurchatov Institute of Atomic Energy, and in 1972 he became the deputy director of the institute. His principal works deal with plasma chemistry and the chemistry of inert gases. He has synthesized more than 50 compounds of fluorine with inert gases, studied the properties of the compounds, and developed methods for producing them.

Legasov received the State Prize of the USSR in 1976; he has been awarded the Order of the October Revolution, the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, and various medals.