Spitsyn, Vladimir

Spitsyn, Vladimir Ivanovich 

Born June 1 (13), 1893, in Moscow; died there Feb. 16,1923. Soviet chemist.

Spitsyn graduated from Moscow University in 1916 and subsequently taught there and at other institutions of higher learning. He was one of the founders and directors of the Bureau for the Study and Industrial Application of Rare Elements, set up in 1922 under the auspices of the Supreme Council on the National Economy. The bureau carried out work on the chemistry of various elements, including W, Mo, Ta, Be, V, Po, Th, and Ce. Spitsyn used his own original method, based on the beta emission of the isotope ²³⁴Pa, to determine the solubility of ThO₂, Th(C₂O₄)₂, and other compounds of Th. He studied the radioactivity of K and Rb and proposed rapid techniques, based on a measurement of radioactivity, for the quantitative determination of U and Th in the minerals of these elements.

REFERENCES

Novoselova, A. V., and V. I. Spitsyn. “Raboty kafedry neorganicheskoi khimii v oblasti khimii redkikh elementov.” Uch. zap. MGU, 1955, issue 174.
Laman, N. K., and Iu. I. Krechetnikova. Istoriia zavoda “Elektroprovod.” Moscow, 1967.