1903 - 1960
Igor Vasilyevich Kurchatov (Russian: Игорь Васильевич Курчатов; 12 January 1903 – 7 February 1960), was a Soviet physicist who played a central role in organizing and directing the former Soviet program of nuclear weapons.As many of his contemporaries in Russia, Kurchatov, initially educated as a naval architect, was an autodidact in nuclear physics and was brought by Soviet establishment to accelerate the feasibility of the "super bomb". Aided by effective intelligence management by Soviet agencies on American Manhattan Project, Kurchatov oversaw the quick development and testing of the first Soviet nuclear weapon, which was roughly based on the first American device, at Semipalatinsk in the Kazakh SSR in 1949. Kurchatov, a recipient of many former Soviet honors, had an instrumental role in modern nuclear industry in Russia. Read more on Wikipedia
Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Igor Kurchatov has received more than 486,319 page views. His biography is available in 54 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 53 in 2019). Igor Kurchatov is the 171st most popular physicist (down from 168th in 2019), the 228th most popular biography from Russia (up from 234th in 2019) and the 8th most popular Russian Physicist.
Igor Kurchatov is most famous for his work in the field of nuclear physics. He was part of the Soviet team that worked on the first atomic bomb.
Page Views (PV)
Historical Popularity Index (HPI)
Languages Editions (L)
Effective Languages (L*)
Coefficient of Variation (CV)
Among physicists, Igor Kurchatov ranks 171 out of 717. Before him are Georges Charpak, Benjamin Thompson, James Rainwater, Syukuro Manabe, Leon Cooper, and Robert H. Goddard. After him are Martinus J. G. Veltman, Hannes Alfvén, Pyotr Kapitsa, Edward Mills Purcell, Arthur Ashkin, and James Cronin.
1924 - 2010
HPI: 64.47
Rank: 165
1753 - 1814
HPI: 64.33
Rank: 166
1917 - 1986
HPI: 64.32
Rank: 167
1931 - Present
HPI: 64.31
Rank: 168
1930 - Present
HPI: 64.23
Rank: 169
1882 - 1945
HPI: 64.20
Rank: 170
1903 - 1960
HPI: 64.14
Rank: 171
1931 - 2021
HPI: 63.98
Rank: 172
1908 - 1995
HPI: 63.97
Rank: 173
1894 - 1984
HPI: 63.87
Rank: 174
1912 - 1997
HPI: 63.85
Rank: 175
1922 - 2020
HPI: 63.72
Rank: 176
1931 - 2016
HPI: 63.69
Rank: 177
Among people born in 1903, Igor Kurchatov ranks 37. Before him are The French Angel, Bing Crosby, Fahri Korutürk, Hugo Theorell, Raymond Queneau, and Matthias Sindelar. After him are Eliot Ness, Tunku Abdul Rahman, George Beadle, Georg Elser, Julius Fučík, and Lars Onsager. Among people deceased in 1960, Igor Kurchatov ranks 13. Before him are Wilhelm Pieck, Max von Laue, Amanullah Khan, Walther Funk, Paula Hitler, and Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna of Russia. After him are Fausto Coppi, Aloysius Stepinac, Said Nursî, Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna of Russia, J. L. Austin, and Victor Sjöström.
1903 - 1954
HPI: 64.83
Rank: 31
1903 - 1977
HPI: 64.57
Rank: 32
1903 - 1987
HPI: 64.34
Rank: 33
1903 - 1982
HPI: 64.31
Rank: 34
1903 - 1976
HPI: 64.20
Rank: 35
1903 - 1939
HPI: 64.14
Rank: 36
1903 - 1960
HPI: 64.14
Rank: 37
1903 - 1957
HPI: 64.11
Rank: 38
1903 - 1990
HPI: 63.87
Rank: 39
1903 - 1989
HPI: 63.73
Rank: 40
1903 - 1945
HPI: 63.57
Rank: 41
1903 - 1943
HPI: 63.39
Rank: 42
1903 - 1976
HPI: 63.34
Rank: 43
1876 - 1960
HPI: 70.34
Rank: 7
1879 - 1960
HPI: 69.58
Rank: 8
1892 - 1960
HPI: 68.57
Rank: 9
1890 - 1960
HPI: 68.01
Rank: 10
1896 - 1960
HPI: 67.94
Rank: 11
1882 - 1960
HPI: 65.68
Rank: 12
1903 - 1960
HPI: 64.14
Rank: 13
1919 - 1960
HPI: 64.05
Rank: 14
1898 - 1960
HPI: 63.71
Rank: 15
1877 - 1960
HPI: 62.63
Rank: 16
1875 - 1960
HPI: 62.62
Rank: 17
1911 - 1960
HPI: 62.36
Rank: 18
1879 - 1960
HPI: 62.19
Rank: 19
Among people born in Russia, Igor Kurchatov ranks 228 out of 3,262. Before him are Aleksandr Ulyanov (1866), Gherman Titov (1935), Vasily Blokhin (1895), Yevdokiya Lopukhina (1669), Yermak Timofeyevich (1532), and Alexander Vasilyevich Alexandrov (1883). After him are Dmitry Ustinov (1908), Mikhail Mishustin (1966), Gerhard Barkhorn (1919), Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia (1847), Olga Constantinovna of Russia (1851), and Ivan Goncharov (1812).
1866 - 1887
HPI: 64.39
Rank: 222
1935 - 2000
HPI: 64.35
Rank: 223
1895 - 1955
HPI: 64.34
Rank: 224
1669 - 1731
HPI: 64.25
Rank: 225
1532 - 1585
HPI: 64.22
Rank: 226
1883 - 1946
HPI: 64.18
Rank: 227
1903 - 1960
HPI: 64.14
Rank: 228
1908 - 1984
HPI: 64.13
Rank: 229
1966 - Present
HPI: 64.11
Rank: 230
1919 - 1983
HPI: 64.10
Rank: 231
1847 - 1909
HPI: 64.06
Rank: 232
1851 - 1926
HPI: 64.05
Rank: 233
1812 - 1891
HPI: 64.04
Rank: 234
Among physicists born in Russia, Igor Kurchatov ranks 8. Before him are Andrei Sakharov (1921), Wilhelm Wien (1864), Mikhail Lomonosov (1711), Arnold Sommerfeld (1868), Pavel Cherenkov (1904), and Igor Tamm (1895). After him are Pyotr Kapitsa (1894), Alexei Alexeyevich Abrikosov (1928), Ilya Frank (1908), Nikolay Basov (1922), Vitaly Ginzburg (1916), and Andre Geim (1958).
1921 - 1989
HPI: 72.61
Rank: 2
1864 - 1928
HPI: 71.90
Rank: 3
1711 - 1765
HPI: 70.32
Rank: 4
1868 - 1951
HPI: 68.67
Rank: 5
1904 - 1990
HPI: 66.52
Rank: 6
1895 - 1971
HPI: 65.89
Rank: 7
1903 - 1960
HPI: 64.14
Rank: 8
1894 - 1984
HPI: 63.87
Rank: 9
1928 - 2017
HPI: 63.30
Rank: 10
1908 - 1990
HPI: 62.86
Rank: 11
1922 - 2001
HPI: 62.73
Rank: 12
1916 - 2009
HPI: 62.21
Rank: 13
1958 - Present
HPI: 60.11
Rank: 14