Bashir Iskandarovich Rameev (; formerly "Rameyev" in English; 1 May 1918 – 16 May 1994) was a

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

inventor and scientist, one of the founders of Soviet computing, author of 23

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an sufficiency of disclosure, enabling discl ...

s, including the first patent in the field of electronic computers officially registered in the USSR—a patent for the Automatic Electronic Digital Machine (1948). Rameev's inventions paved the way for the development of a new field in Soviet science—electronic computing—and for the formation of a new branch of industry that supported it. The central ideas incorporated in Rameev's invention of the electronic computer included: storing programs in

computer memory Computer memory stores information, such as data and programs, for immediate use in the computer. The term ''memory'' is often synonymous with the terms ''RAM,'' ''main memory,'' or ''primary storage.'' Archaic synonyms for main memory include ...

, using

binary code A binary code represents plain text, text, instruction set, computer processor instructions, or any other data using a two-symbol system. The two-symbol system used is often "0" and "1" from the binary number, binary number system. The binary cod ...

, utilizing external devices, and deploying

electronic circuits An electronic circuit is composed of individual electronic components, such as resistors, transistors, capacitors, inductors and diodes, connected by conductive wires or traces through which electric current can flow. It is a type of electric ...

and

semiconductor A semiconductor is a material with electrical conductivity between that of a conductor and an insulator. Its conductivity can be modified by adding impurities (" doping") to its crystal structure. When two regions with different doping level ...

diode A diode is a two-Terminal (electronics), terminal electronic component that conducts electric current primarily in One-way traffic, one direction (asymmetric electrical conductance, conductance). It has low (ideally zero) Electrical resistance ...

s. The first publication about similar technology outside of the USSR appeared in 1949–1950. Rameev also suggested that intermediate computation data be automatically printed on

punched tape file:PaperTapes-5and8Hole.jpg, Five- and eight-hole wide punched paper tape file:Harwell-dekatron-witch-10.jpg, Paper tape reader on the Harwell computer with a small piece of five-hole tape connected in a circle – creating a physical program ...

and sent into the computer's arithmetic device for subsequent processing, meaning that the processing of commands would be performed in the computer's arithmetic device; this is usually referred to as the

Von Neumann architecture The von Neumann architecture—also known as the von Neumann model or Princeton architecture—is a computer architecture based on the '' First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC'', written by John von Neumann in 1945, describing designs discus ...

. Of particular note is Rameev's invention of diode-matrix control circuits, which were used to build his first brainchild, the first serially manufactured Soviet mainframe "

Strela Strela (, ''arrow'') may refer to: Russian/Soviet technology Anti-aircraft missiles * 9K31 Strela-1, a.k.a. SA-9 Gaskin * 9K32 Strela-2, a.k.a. SA-7 Grail * 9K34 Strela-3, a.k.a. SA-14 Gremlin * 9K35 Strela-10, a.k.a. SA-13 Gopher Other * Strela ...

" (1954). In the 1950s, the diode-matrix control circuits were not widespread due to their significant dimensions and high power consumption. However, with subsequent development of

microelectronics Microelectronics is a subfield of electronics. As the name suggests, microelectronics relates to the study and manufacture (or microfabrication) of very small electronic designs and components. Usually, but not always, this means micrometre ...

and the emergence of large-scale

integrated circuit An integrated circuit (IC), also known as a microchip or simply chip, is a set of electronic circuits, consisting of various electronic components (such as transistors, resistors, and capacitors) and their interconnections. These components a ...

s, which made possible to deploy tens or hundreds of thousands of diodes and

transistors A transistor is a semiconductor device used to Electronic amplifier, amplify or electronic switch, switch electrical signals and electric power, power. It is one of the basic building blocks of modern electronics. It is composed of semicondu ...

in a single piece of

silicon Silicon is a chemical element; it has symbol Si and atomic number 14. It is a hard, brittle crystalline solid with a blue-grey metallic lustre, and is a tetravalent metalloid (sometimes considered a non-metal) and semiconductor. It is a membe ...

, the concept of control circuits became viable and commonly used. "

" computers carried out calculations in

nuclear physics Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies atomic nuclei and their constituents and interactions, in addition to the study of other forms of nuclear matter. Nuclear physics should not be confused with atomic physics, which studies th ...

, rocketry and space research. Notably, one of "Strelas" was used to calculate "

Sputnik Sputnik 1 (, , ''Satellite 1''), sometimes referred to as simply Sputnik, was the first artificial Earth satellite. It was launched into an elliptical low Earth orbit by the Soviet Union on 4 October 1957 as part of the Soviet space progra ...

" orbit trajectory. For the development of "Strela" Rameev and his team were awarded the Stalin Prize of first degree, which was the highest Soviet award at that time. Between 1956 and 1969, Rameev designed and oversaw the manufacturing of 14 different computers including: the multi-purpose " Ural" computer series and the specialized machines "Weather" ("Погода"), "Crystal" ("Кристалл"), "Granite" ("Гранит"), and "Coordinate" ("Координата"). Rameev's "famous computer family 'Ural' existed more than 15 years and had good chances to be one of the corner stones of future Russian computer engineering".

Childhood and youth

Rameev's mother died when he was two. In 1938 his father was targeted by the Soviets and perished in

labor camp A labor camp (or labour camp, see British and American spelling differences, spelling differences) or work camp is a detention facility where inmates are unfree labour, forced to engage in penal labor as a form of punishment. Labor camps have ...

s during

Stalinist purges The Great Purge, or the Great Terror (), also known as the Year of '37 () and the Yezhovshchina ( , ), was a political purge in the Soviet Union that took place from 1936 to 1938. After the assassination of Sergei Kirov by Leonid Nikolae ...

. This branded Rameev, who was by then a sophomore at the

Moscow Power Engineering Institute National Research University "Moscow Power Engineering Institute" (MPEI; ) is a public university based in Moscow, Russia. It offers training in the fields of Power Engineering, Electric Engineering, Radio Engineering, Electronics, Information ...

since 1937, as a son of "the

enemy of the people The terms enemy of the people and enemy of the nation are designations for the political opponents and the social class, social-class opponents of the Power (social and political), power group within a larger social unit, who, thus identified, ...

". As a result, he faced coarse, overt and systematic discrimination, which began with university expulsion and job rejections and lasted until the breakout of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Despite his impeccable record of service in the

Soviet Army The Soviet Ground Forces () was the land warfare service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces from 1946 to 1992. It was preceded by the Red Army. After the Soviet Union ceased to exist in December 1991, the Ground Forces remained under th ...

during World War II, Rameev encountered the same unfounded discrimination when he returned from the front. As the last resort, he wrote a letter to

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

asking for help. Instead of helpful intervention, he was summoned to a phone call with a bureaucrat who told him "to live quietly and to not write again".Малиновский. (1995). Ibid. It is then, at the age of 29, that Rameev realized that he had to do something extraordinary good for his country to prove that he and his family were not "the enemies of the people". In 1935 Bashir became the youngest member of the Union of Inventors of the USSR at the age of 17.

Awards

* Two Orders of the Red Banner of Labour

Family

Bashir Rameev's grandfather is poet Därdemänd. His father was mining engineer Iskandar Rameev.

Death

He died on May 16, 1994 in Moscow at the age of 77. He was buried at the

Kuntsevo Cemetery The Kuntsevo Cemetery () is a cemetery servicing Kuntsevo, Moscow. It is located on the bank of the Setun River, to the south of the Mozhaisk Highway (the continuation of the Kutuzovsky Prospekt). The local five-domed church was commissioned in 16 ...

References

External links

Russian Virtual Computer Museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rameev, Bashir 1918 births 1994 deaths People from Bashkortostan People from Orenburg Governorate Moscow Power Engineering Institute alumni Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Recipients of the Stalin Prize Computer designers Computer hardware engineers Science and technology in Bashkortostan Soviet computer scientists Soviet inventors Burials at Kuntsevo Cemetery