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PHYSICIST

Igor Kurchatov

1903 - 1960

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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.

Memorability Metrics

  • 490k

    Page Views (PV)

  • 64.14

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 54

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 4.70

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 4.39

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

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Among PHYSICISTS

Among physicists, Igor Kurchatov ranks 171 out of 717Before 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.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1903, Igor Kurchatov ranks 37Before 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 13Before 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.

Others Born in 1903

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Others Deceased in 1960

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In Russia

Among people born in Russia, Igor Kurchatov ranks 228 out of 3,262Before 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).

Among PHYSICISTS In Russia

Among physicists born in Russia, Igor Kurchatov ranks 8Before 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).