ASTRONOMERS from Georgia

Top 3

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Georgian Astronomers of all time. This list of famous Georgian Astronomers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

1. Victor Ambartsumian (1908 - 1996)

With an HPI of 61.74, Victor Ambartsumian is the most famous Georgian Astronomer.  His biography has been translated into 60 different languages on wikipedia.

Viktor Amazaspovich Ambartsumian (Russian: Виктор Амазаспович Амбарцумян; Armenian: Վիկտոր Համազասպի Համբարձումյան, Viktor Hamazaspi Hambardzumyan; 18 September [O.S. 5 September] 1908 – 12 August 1996) was a Soviet and Armenian astrophysicist and science administrator. One of the 20th century's leading astronomers, he is widely regarded as the founder of theoretical astrophysics in the Soviet Union. Educated at Leningrad State University (LSU) and the Pulkovo Observatory, Ambartsumian taught at LSU and founded the Soviet Union's first department of astrophysics there in 1934. He subsequently moved to Soviet Armenia, where he founded the Byurakan Observatory in 1946. It became his institutional base for the decades to come and a major center of astronomical research. He also co-founded the Armenian Academy of Sciences and led it for almost half a century—the entire post-war period. One commentator noted that "science in Armenia was synonymous with the name Ambartsumian." In 1965 Ambartsumian founded the journal Astrofizika and served as its editor for over 20 years. Ambartsumian began retiring from the various positions he held only from the age of 80. He died at his house in Byurakan and was buried on the grounds of the observatory. He was awarded the title of National Hero of Armenia in 1994.

2. Grigory Neujmin (1886 - 1946)

With an HPI of 51.48, Grigory Neujmin is the 2nd most famous Georgian Astronomer.  His biography has been translated into 29 different languages.

Grigory Nikolayevich Neujmin (Russian: Григорий Николаевич Неуймин; 3 January 1886 [O.S. 22 December 1885] – 17 December 1946) was a Georgian–Russian astronomer, native of Tbilisi in Georgia, and a discoverer of numerous minor planets as well as 6 periodic and a hyperbolic comet at the Pulkovo and Simeiz Observatories during the first half of the 20th century.

3. Benjamin Markarian (1913 - 1985)

With an HPI of 50.85, Benjamin Markarian is the 3rd most famous Georgian Astronomer.  His biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Benjamin Egishevich Markarian (Armenian: Բենիամին Եղիշեի Մարգարյան) was an Armenian astrophysicist. Markarian's Chain is a group of galaxies which was named after him when he discovered that its members move with a common motion. He is also the namesake of a catalog of compact, optically bright galaxies (including both starbursts and active galactic nuclei) known as Markarian galaxies.