Sergei Vasilyevich Vonsovsky (also spelled as Vonsovskii or Vonsovskiy,

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

: Сергей Васильевич Вонсовский; September 2, 1910 – August 11, 1998) 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 ...

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...

. He was named a

Hero of Socialist Labour The Hero of Socialist Labour () was an Title of honor, honorific title in the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact countries from 1938 to 1991. It represented the highest degree of distinction in the USSR and was awarded for exceptional achievem ...

in 1969.

Biography

Sergei Vonsovsky was born in 1910 in

Tashkent Tashkent (), also known as Toshkent, is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uzbekistan, largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of more than 3 million people as of April 1, 2024. I ...

. In 1932 he graduated from the

Leningrad University Saint Petersburg State University (SPBGU; ) is a public university, public research university in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in Russia. Founded in 1724 by a decree of Peter the Great, the uni ...

. In 1932 he moved to Sverdlovsk and started working at the Ural Physicotechical Institute, later – at the Metals Physics Institute of the Ural branch of the

Russian Academy of Sciences The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across the Russian Federation; and additional scientific and social units such ...

. In 1943 he defended his second thesis and received the highest scientific degree of

Doctor of Sciences A Doctor of Sciences, abbreviated д-р наук or д. н.; ; ; ; is a higher doctoral degree in the Russian Empire, Soviet Union and many Commonwealth of Independent States countries. One of the prerequisites of receiving a Doctor of Sciences ...

. From 1947 he also kept a professorship at the chair of theoretical physics at the department of physics of the

Ural State University The Ural State University (, , often shortened to USU, УрГУ) is a public university located in the city of Yekaterinburg, Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russian Federation. Founded in 1920, it was an exclusive educational establishment made of several in ...

. Since 1971 to 1985 he was the director of the Ural branch of the

Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union The Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union was the highest scientific institution of the Soviet Union from 1925 to 1991. It united the country's leading scientists and was subordinated directly to the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union (un ...

. Sergei Vonsovsky led researches in the field of metal physics studying the

transition metal In chemistry, a transition metal (or transition element) is a chemical element in the d-block of the periodic table (groups 3 to 12), though the elements of group 12 (and less often group 3) are sometimes excluded. The lanthanide and actinid ...

s and the fusions. He created the fusions

ferromagnetism Ferromagnetism is a property of certain materials (such as iron) that results in a significant, observable magnetic permeability, and in many cases, a significant magnetic coercivity, allowing the material to form a permanent magnet. Ferromagne ...

theory and developed the theory of magnetic

anisotropy Anisotropy () is the structural property of non-uniformity in different directions, as opposed to isotropy. An anisotropic object or pattern has properties that differ according to direction of measurement. For example, many materials exhibit ve ...

. He also worked at the field of the

s and fusions

superconductivity Superconductivity is a set of physical properties observed in superconductors: materials where Electrical resistance and conductance, electrical resistance vanishes and Magnetic field, magnetic fields are expelled from the material. Unlike an ord ...

in particular he studied the problem of simultaneity of ferromagnetism and

paramagnetism Paramagnetism is a form of magnetism whereby some materials are weakly attracted by an externally applied magnetic field, and form internal, induced magnetic fields in the direction of the applied magnetic field. In contrast with this behavior, ...

. He was the founder of the Ural scientific school in ferromagnetism and metals physics. Ural Branch of the

instituted Vonsovsky Gold Medal in his honour.

Honours

*Full Member of the

(1966) *

(1969) *Foreign member of the

Polish Academy of Sciences The Polish Academy of Sciences (, PAN) is a Polish state-sponsored institution of higher learning. Headquartered in Warsaw, it is responsible for spearheading the development of science across the country by a society of distinguished scholars a ...

*Foreign corresponding member of the German Academy of Sciences *

USSR State Prize The USSR State Prize () was one of the Soviet Union’s highest civilian honours, awarded from its establishment in September 1966 until the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. It recognised outstanding contributions in the fields of science, mathem ...

(1975, 1982) *Vavilov Gold Medal of the

(1982) *Three

Orders of Lenin The Order of Lenin (, ) was an award named after Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the October Revolution. It was established by the Central Executive Committee on 6 April 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration bestowed by the Soviet ...

Order of the Red Star The Order of the Red Star () was a military decoration of the Soviet Union. It was established by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of 6 April 1930 but its statute was only defined in decree of the Presidium of the ...

Order of the Red Banner of Labour The Order of the Red Banner of Labour () was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to the Soviet state and society in the fields of production, science, culture, literature, the arts, education, sports ...

Demidov Prize The Demidov Prize () is a national scientific prize in Russia awarded annually to the members of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Originally awarded from 1832 to 1866 in the Russian Empire, it was revived by the government of Russia's Sverdlovsk ...

(1993) *Honorary Citizen of Sverdlovsk (1984) One of the streets of

Yekaterinburg Yekaterinburg (, ; ), alternatively Romanization of Russian, romanized as Ekaterinburg and formerly known as Sverdlovsk ( ; 1924–1991), is a city and the administrative centre of Sverdlovsk Oblast and the Ural Federal District, Russia. The ci ...

is called after academician Vonsovsky. The main scientific award of the Ural branch of the

is called the Vonsovsky Gold Medal. In

you may also find a monument to Sergei Vonsovsky.

Short bibliography

*S. V. Vonsovsky & Y. S. Shur, ''Ferromagnetism'' (Moscow, 1948) *S. V. Vonsovskii, ''Ferromagnetic Resonance'' (Pergamon: Oxford, 1966) *S. V. Vonsovsky, ''Magnetism'' (Wiley, 1974), in two volumes *S. V. Vonsovsky, ''Magnetism of elementary particles'' (Moscow, 1975) *S. V. Vonsovsky and M. I. Katsnelson, ''Quantum Solid State Physics'' (1989)

External links

Short biographyBiography at the Proceedings of the Ural State University
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vonsovsky, Sergei 1910 births 1998 deaths Scientists from Tashkent Full Members of the Russian Academy of Sciences Full Members of the USSR Academy of Sciences Members of the German Academy of Sciences at Berlin Academic staff of Ural State University Heroes of Socialist Labour Demidov Prize laureates Soviet physicists