INVENTORS from Russia

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Russian Inventors of all time. This list of famous Russian Inventors is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Russian Inventors.

1. Oleg Antonov (1906 - 1984)

With an HPI of 64.44, Oleg Antonov is the most famous Russian Inventor.  His biography has been translated into 42 different languages on wikipedia.

Oleg Konstantinovich Antonov (Russian: Олег Константинович Антонов, Ukrainian: Олег Костянтинович Антонов, romanized: Oleh Kostiantynovych Antonov; 7 February 1906 – 4 April 1984) was a Soviet aeroplane designer, and the founder of the Research and Design Bureau No. 153 (OKB-153) in Novosibirsk, Russia, latter moved to Kiev, Ukrainian SSR, an named in his honour after his death. Antonov designed a number of Soviet aeroplanes (such as the Antonov An-2, Antonov An-12) and numerous gliders for both civilian and military use.

2. Vladimir K. Zworykin (1888 - 1982)

With an HPI of 62.90, Vladimir K. Zworykin is the 2nd most famous Russian Inventor.  His biography has been translated into 39 different languages.

Vladimir Kosma Zworykin (1888/1889 – July 29, 1982) was a Russian-American inventor, engineer, and pioneer of television technology. Zworykin invented a television transmitting and receiving system employing cathode-ray tubes. He played a role in the practical development of television from the early thirties, including charge storage-type tubes, infrared image tubes and the electron microscope.

3. Alexander Stepanovich Popov (1859 - 1906)

With an HPI of 62.85, Alexander Stepanovich Popov is the 3rd most famous Russian Inventor.  His biography has been translated into 53 different languages.

Alexander Stepanovich Popov (sometimes spelled Popoff; Russian: Александр Степанович Попов; March 16 [O.S. March 4] 1859 – January 13 [O.S. December 31, 1905] 1906) was a Russian physicist who was one of the first people to invent a radio receiving device. Popov's work as a teacher at a Russian naval school led him to explore high-frequency electrical phenomena. On 7 May 1895, he presented a paper on a wireless lightning detector he had built that worked via using a coherer to detect radio noise from lightning strikes. This day is celebrated today in Russia as Radio Day. In a 24 March 1896 demonstration, he transmitted radio signals 250 meters between different campus buildings in St. Petersburg. His work was based on that of another physicist, Oliver Lodge, and contemporaneous with the work of Guglielmo Marconi.

4. Léon Theremin (1896 - 1993)

With an HPI of 60.73, Léon Theremin is the 4th most famous Russian Inventor.  His biography has been translated into 35 different languages.

Lev Sergeyevich Termen (27 August [O.S. 15 August] 1896 – 3 November 1993), better known as Leon Theremin was a Russian inventor, most famous for his invention of the theremin, one of the first electronic musical instruments and the first to be mass-produced. He also worked on early television research. His secret listening device, "The Thing", hung for seven years in plain view in the United States ambassador's Moscow office and enabled Soviet agents to eavesdrop on secret conversations.

5. Nikolai Kardashev (1932 - 2019)

With an HPI of 59.57, Nikolai Kardashev is the 5th most famous Russian Inventor.  His biography has been translated into 30 different languages.

Nikolai Semyonovich Kardashev (Russian: Никола́й Семёнович Кардашёв, IPA: [nʲɪkɐˈlaj sʲɪˈmʲɵnəvʲɪtɕ kərdɐˈʂof]; April 25, 1932 – August 3, 2019) was a Soviet and Russian astrophysicist, Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, and the deputy director of the Astro Space Center of PN Lebedev Physical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow. Kardashev is best known for his scale, which measures a civilization's status in evolution based off the amount of energy it is capable of harnessing.

6. Mikhail Dolivo-Dobrovolsky (1862 - 1919)

With an HPI of 56.93, Mikhail Dolivo-Dobrovolsky is the 6th most famous Russian Inventor.  His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Mikhail Osipovich Dolivo-Dobrovolsky (Russian: Михаи́л О́сипович Доли́во-Доброво́льский; German: Michail von Dolivo-Dobrowolsky or Michail Ossipowitsch Doliwo-Dobrowolski; 2 January [O.S. 21 December 1861] 1862 – 15 November [O.S. 3 November] 1919) was a Russian Empire-born engineer, electrician, and inventor of Polish-Russian origins, active in the German Empire and also in Switzerland. After studying in Germany and while working in Berlin for Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft (AEG), he became one of the founders (the others were Nikola Tesla, Galileo Ferraris and Jonas Wenström) of polyphase electrical systems, developing the three-phase electrical generator and a three-phase electrical motor (1888) and studying star and delta connections. The triumph of the three-phase system was displayed in Europe at the International Electro-Technical Exhibition of 1891, where Dolivo-Dobrovolsky used this system to transmit electric power at the distance of 176 km with 75% efficiency. In 1891 he also created a three-phase transformer and short-circuited (squirrel-cage) induction motor. He designed the world's first three-phase hydroelectric power plant in 1891.

7. Lucien Olivier (1838 - 1883)

With an HPI of 56.56, Lucien Olivier is the 7th most famous Russian Inventor.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Lucien Olivier (Russian: Люсьен Оливье) (1838–14 November 1883) was a Russian chef of Belgian and French descent and owner of the Hermitage restaurant in the center of Moscow, Russian Empire, in the early 1860s. He was born in Moscow. Olivier is known for the creation of Olivier salad, also known as "Russian salad". The secret of the recipe was not disclosed until his death. Lucien Olivier died in Yalta from heart disease at the age of 45 in 1883 and was buried at Vvedenskoye Cemetery. His tomb was lost until 2008. The current salad has numerous variations which are a mixture of every component Olivier used to add to his famous dish, as well as ingredients that he did not use himself, with a mayonnaise dressing.

8. Pavel Yablochkov (1847 - 1894)

With an HPI of 53.05, Pavel Yablochkov is the 8th most famous Russian Inventor.  His biography has been translated into 27 different languages.

Pavel Nikolayevich Yablochkov (also transliterated as Jablochkoff; Russian: Павел Николаевич Яблочков; September 14 [O.S. September 2] 1847 – March 31 [O.S. March 19] 1894) was a Russian electrical engineer, businessman and the inventor of the Yablochkov candle, a type of electric carbon arc lamp.

9. Ivan Kulibin (1735 - 1818)

With an HPI of 50.03, Ivan Kulibin is the 9th most famous Russian Inventor.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Ivan Petrovich Kulibin (April 21, 1735 – August 11, 1818) was a Russian mechanic and inventor. He was born in Nizhny Novgorod in the family of a trader. From childhood, Kulibin displayed an interest in constructing mechanical tools. Soon, clock mechanisms became a special interest of his. His realizations as well as his prolific imagination inspired the work of many.

10. Alexandre Alexeieff (1901 - 1982)

With an HPI of 49.97, Alexandre Alexeieff is the 10th most famous Russian Inventor.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Alexandre Alexandrovitch Alexeieff (Russian: Александр Александрович Алексеев; 18 April 1901 – 9 August 1982) was a Russian Empire-born artist, filmmaker and illustrator who lived and worked mainly in Paris. He and his second wife Claire Parker (1906–1981) are credited with inventing the pinscreen as well as the animation technique totalization. In all Alexeieff produced 6 films on the pinscreen, 41 advertising films and illustrated 41 books.