Viktor Ambartsumian

Ambartsumian was born in Tiflis (present-day Tbilisi, Georgia) on , Ambartsumian was the secretary, while Hovhannes Tumanyan, the famed poet, served as its president. Ambartsumian knew Tumanyan personally. In 1922, after the 14-year-old boy described Sirius to him, Tumanyan wrote a short poem about the star. Ambartsumian's parents married in 1904. He had a brother, Levon, and sister, Gohar. Levon, a geophysics student, died at 23-24 while on an expedition in the Urals. ==Education==

Ambartsumian developed an early interest in mathematics and was able to multiply by the age of 4. His interest in astronomy began with reading a Russian translation of a book by Ormsby M. Mitchel at 11. By his own account, he considered himself an astronomer by the age of 12. Between 1917 and 1924 he studied at Tiflis gymnasiums, where schooling was conducted in Russian and Armenian. In 1921 he transferred to gymnasium #4 to study under Nikolay Ignatievich Sudakov, a Moscow-educated astronomer, whom Ambartsumian called a "very serious teacher of astronomy." Ambartsumian worked with Sudakov at the school observatory the latter had built. At school, Ambartsumian wrote several papers on astronomy and delivered lectures on the origin of the Solar System and extraterrestrial life at "first in school and then in the various clubs and houses of culture" beginning at 12–13. In 1924 Ambartsumian delivered a lecture at Yerevan State University about the theory of relativity. He also met Ashot Hovhannisyan and Alexander Miasnikian, Armenia's communist leaders. In 1924 Ambartsumian moved to Leningrad, where he began attending the Herzen Pedagogical Institute. Shakhbazyan suggests that his non-peasant, non-proletarian background prevented him from entering Leningrad State University (LSU). However, Ambartsumian explained in an interview that by the time he arrived in August, LSU's admissions were already closed. To avoid losing a year, he opted to study in the physics and mathematics department of the pedagogical institute. After one year, he transferred to LSU's physics and mathematics department. At university, Ambartsumian was interested in both astronomy and mathematics. "I loved mathematics, but at the same time I felt that my profession would be astronomy. Mathematics was like a hobby, but I did complete the full mathematics curriculum. Thus you could say that I graduated with a major in mathematics, but in fact it is recorded that I graduated as an astronomer," he said in an interview in 1987. At LSU among his professors were the physicist Orest Khvolson and mathematician Vladimir Smirnov. He studied alongside other major Soviet scientists such as Lev Landau, Sergei Sobolev, Sergey Khristianovich and George Gamow. In 1926 he published the first of his 16 scholarly papers as a student. He graduated in 1928, although he received his diploma only fifty years later—in 1978. His undergraduate thesis was "devoted to a study of radiative transfer radiative equilibrium." He completed his postgraduate studies at the Pulkovo Observatory under Aristarkh Belopolsky between 1928 and 1931. ==Career==

Leningrad After completing his postgraduate studies in 1931, Ambartsumian began working at the Pulkovo Observatory and teaching part-time at LSU. Chandrasekhar stated in 1977 that during his visit in 1934 Ambartsumian "was very free and very open. He was extremely critical of his seniors." and others. Ambartsumian considered Sobolev his "most brilliant graduate student." Benjamin Markarian started the First Byurakan Survey that resulted in the discovery of the Markarian galaxies. Ambartsumian and his disciples at the Byurakan Observatory became known in the scholarly literature as the "Byurakan School." From 1977 to 1996 Ambartsumian headed a specialized council for theses defenses at Byurakan. Over 50 scientists defended their PhD (Candidate) and Doctoral theses on astronomy, astrophysics and theoretical physics in those years under Ambartsumian. Though most of the students were graduates of the astrophysics department of Yerevan State University, many came from Russia, Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Hungary, Bulgaria, and elsewhere. Several symposiums of the International Astronomical Union and numerous conferences were held in Byurakan in attendance of Jan Oort, Fritz Zwicky, Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, Pyotr Kapitsa, Vitaly Ginzburg, and others. It was also visited by Soviet leaders Nikita Khrushchev and Leonid Brezhnev. With the Byurakan Observatory, Ambartsumian "put Armenia on the astronomical map" and made Soviet Armenia "one of the world's centers for the study of astrophysics." By the time of his death in 1996, The New York Times described Byurakan as "one of the world's leading astronomical research centers." As of 1960 the Byurakan Observatory maintained regular contact with 350 research institutions and with scientists from 50 countries. ==Research==

Ambartsumian carried out basic research in astronomy and cosmogony. At the time the "idea of star formation as an ongoing process was regarded as very speculative." by the Armenian Academy Sciences. Ambartsumian's discovery was based on his observation of stars of O and B spectral types and T Tauri and flare stars that cluster very loosely. This is significantly different from open clusters, which have a higher density of stars, while stellar associations have lower than average density. Ambartsumian divided stellar associations into OB and T groups where he first introduced the inverse Sturm-Liouville problem. He proved that "among all vibrating strings only the homogeneous vibrating string has eigenvalues that are specific to it—that is, homogeneous vibrating strings have a spectrum of eigenvalues." ==Science administration==

{{quote box Soviet Academy of Sciences Ambartsumian was elected corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences in 1939 and full member (academician) in 1953. International According to Jean-Claude Pecker Ambartsumian "had a very strong influence on world astropolitics" and is one of the few astronomers who have had such a "deep influence on the life of the international bodies devoted to the promotion and defense of astronomy and science in general." ;International Astronomical Union Ambartsumian was a member of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) since 1946. He served as vice-president of the IAU from 1948 to 1955, then as president from 1961 to 1964. ;International Council of Scientific Unions Ambartsumian also served as president of the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU) between 1968 and 1972, being elected twice for two-year terms in 1968 and 1970. He was the first individual from the Eastern bloc to be elected to that post. ==Philosophical and cosmological views==

Ambartsumian made "philosophical excursions", and published several books and articles on philosophy, including Philosophical Questions About the Science of the Universe (1973). Ambartsumian became a member of the administration of the Philosophical Society of the Soviet Union when it was established in 1971. In 1990 he became honorary president of the Philosophical Society of Armenia, which was created through his efforts. and believed that science and religion are irreconcilable. In an interview months before his death, Ambartsumian said that "God is an idea [...] the embodiment of morality [...] an idea that gives meaning to life, profound meaning, and thus, it must be acknowledged that it exists." For over four decades, he headed Gitelik, the Armenian branch of the all-Soviet organization Znaniye (Knowledge), founded in 1947 to continue the pre-war atheist work of the League of Militant Godless. The organization engaged in what it called "scientific-atheistic propaganda" by publishing atheist novels and journals, producing films and organizing lectures on the supremacy of science over religion. As of 1986, the society had around 20,000 members. According to one associate, Ambartsumian self-identified as an "Armenian Christian" but was not religious. He felt that Christianity has been important in preserving Armenian identity. Ambartsumian had friendly relations with Vazgen I, the long-time head (Catholicos) of the Armenian Apostolic Church, especially since at least the late 1980s. In 1969 Ambartsumian visited San Lazzaro degli Armeni in Venice, home of the Armenian Catholic congregation of the Mekhitarists and was declared an honorary member of its academy. Marxism–Leninism and dialectical materialism Ambartsumian accepted and followed Marxist-Leninist philosophy and staunchly promoted dialectical materialism and projected it on his astrophysical interpretations. Helge Kragh described Ambartsumian as a "convinced Marxist." He wrote on Marxism–Leninism and dialectical materialism in 1959: Dialectical materialism influenced Ambartsumian's cosmological views and ideas. According to Loren Graham, "perhaps no great Soviet scientist has made more outspoken statements in favor of dialectical materialism" than Ambartsumian. Mark H. Teeter wrote in a 1981 report that Ambartsumian is "one of a rather limited group of Soviet scholars of international stature who claim that dialectical materialism has assisted them in their work." Kragh noted that Ambartsumian was not a cosmologist, but an astrophysicist, and that "his ideas of the universe were influenced both by his background in astrophysics and his adherence to Marxist–Leninist philosophy." Graham notes that his "praise of dialectical materialism has been voiced again and again over the years; these affirmations have come when political controls were rather lax as well as when they were tight. We have every reason to believe that they reflect, at root, his own approach to nature." ==Political career and views==

Ambartsumian is often referred to as a politician; Donald Lynden-Bell called him a skillful one. McCutcheon noted that Ambartsumian's "scientific genius combined with his political loyalty took him to the heights of the Soviet scientific establishment." Ambartsumian was a delegate to the 19th (1952), 20th (1956), 22nd (1961), 23rd (1966), 24th (1971), 25th (1976) and 26th (1981) congresses of the CPSU. Cold War politics Ambartsumian often signed open letters in support of the official line of the Soviet authorities. In 1971 he was among leading 14 Soviet scientists who signed a letter to U.S. President Richard Nixon in support of Angela Davis and appealed him to "give her an opportunity of continuing her scientific work." In 1983 Ambartsumian was among 244 Soviet scientists who signed a statement attacking U.S. President Ronald Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative ("Star Wars"), namely Reagan's plan for an effective defense against nuclear attack. The scientists stated that Reagan is "creating a most dangerous illusion that may turn into an even more threatening spiral of the arms race." Ambartsumian's relationship with dissidents was complicated. In 1973 he refused to meet Yuri Orlov, nuclear physicist and a prominent dissident, after having offered him a job in Yerevan. Ambartsumian told him through subordinate that "there are situations when even an Academy member is helpless." In 1975 he was among 72 Soviet scientists who denounced the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to Soviet physicist and dissident Andrei Sakharov. Armenian causes Ambartsumian revered the Armenian language and supported its usage. He insisted all internal communication of the Armenian Academy of Sciences be done in Armenian when he became president in 1947. As president of the Armenian Academy of Sciences, Ambartsumian often gave speeches at major events, such as during the commemorations of the 1600th anniversary of Mesrop Mashtots, the inventor of the Armenian alphabet, in 1962 and the 100th anniversary of Hovhannes Tumanyan, Armenia's national poet, in 1969. Ambartsumian stated: "The history of our culture has given many outstanding figures, but of all these figures, the Armenian people owe the most to Mashtots." Armenian genocide Ambartsumian delivered a speech on 24 April 1965, on the 50th anniversary of the Armenian genocide, describing it as "extermination of the Armenian population of Western Armenia." He linked it to the 45th anniversary of Soviet Armenia and the revival of the Armenian people as a result of the October Revolution. In an article published in Pravda on 24 April 1975 Ambartsumian linked the Armenian genocide to the Holocaust and blamed German imperialism during World War I for inspiring the Young Turks and the capitalist states for failing to defend the innocent Armenian population and praised the October Revolution for saving the Armenian nation. Nagorno-Karabakh Ambartsumian played a role in the Karabakh movement and was vocal in the initial phase of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. In November 1989, the Ambartsumian-led Armenian Academy of Sciences issued a statement protesting the decision of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union to return Nagorno-Karabakh under the direct control of Soviet Azerbaijan. In September 1990 Ambartsumian and four other Armenians, including writer Zori Balayan and actor Sos Sargsyan, went on a hunger strike at the Hotel Moskva in Moscow to protest the military rule over Nagorno-Karabakh declared by Mikhail Gorbachev. Ambartsumian celebrated his 82nd birthday hunger striking. According to Yuri Shahbazyan, a friend and biographer of Ambartsumian, he remained sympathetic towards the Communist Party of Russia and was critical of Western-sponsored economic liberalization in Russia and other post-Soviet countries. ==Personal life==

When Ambartsumian was referred to by foreigners as a Russian scientist, he corrected them by saying he was Armenian. He spoke perfect Armenian, albeit with an accent. Ambartsumian admitted to not having any hobbies: "My only passion is science, astronomy. Like a jealous wife, it expects a man to give all of himself." However, he loved poetry and music, and "could enliven even the most abstract mathematical lectures with quotations from classical and contemporary poets." Family In 1930 or 1931 Ambartsumian married Vera Fyodorovna (née Klochikhina), an ethnic Russian, who was the niece and the adopted daughter of Pelageya Shajn, the wife of Grigory Shajn, both Russian astronomers. She was an English teacher who taught him to read his papers in English when he visited the U.S. and Britain. However, she could not reconcile with his "barbarous pronunciation," as she described it. He was deeply depressed by her death in 1995. They had four children: daughters Karine (b. 1933) and Yelena (b. 1936) and sons Rafayel (b. 1940) and Rouben (b. 1941). All four became either mathematicians or physicists. As of 1987 he had eight grandchildren. Retirement and death Ambartsumian began retiring from the various positions he held in 1988, at 80. He left the position of the director of the Byurakan Observatory that year. In 1993 he stepped down as president of the Armenian Academy of Sciences and in 1994 as chair of astrophysics at Yerevan State University. Ambartsumian died at his Byurakan house on August 12, 1996, a month short of his 88th birthday. He was buried at the observatory grounds, next to his wife and parents. His funeral was attended by thousands of people, including Armenia's president Levon Ter-Petrosyan. His house was inaugurated as a museum in August 1998. ==Recognition==

Ambartsumian was one of the 20th century's leading astrophysicists and astronomers. He was the leading astronomer of the Soviet Union and is universally recognized as the founder of the Soviet school of theoretical astrophysics. Loren Graham called him "one of the best-known abroad of all Soviet scientists." He was an honorary or foreign member of academies of sciences of over 25 countries. During the Cold War, Ambartsumian was the first Soviet scientist to become foreign honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and foreign associate of the National Academy of Sciences in 1958 and 1959, respectively. In 1977 Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar stated: "My own impression has always been that he was, when he was in his prime, one of the most perceptive and elegant of astronomers." In Armenia After his visit to Armenia in 1971, William H. McNeill wrote that Ambartsumian enjoys "enormous local prestige." One of the "modern icons of Armenian pride," Ambartsumian is recognized as the most prominent scientist in 20th century Armenia, and the most important since the seventh century polymath Anania Shirakatsi. Fadey Sargsyan, Ambartsumian's successor as President of the Armenian Academy of Sciences, stated in 1998 that he went "beyond the limits of his scientific fields and in his own lifetime [became] a great national figure." for his scientific work of international significance, science administration and patriotic activism. Ambartsumian's Knot is a small tidal dwarf galaxy located in NGC 3561 in the constellation Ursa Major. In 1998 Ambartsumian's 90th anniversary was celebrated in Armenia; the International Astronomical Union held a symposium at the Byurakan Observatory and the Pedagogical Institute of Vardenis. In 2009 a bronze statue of Ambartsumian was unveiled in Yerevan at the park around the Yerevan Observatory in attendance of President Serzh Sargsyan and other officials. Busts of Ambartsumian stand at the Byurakan Observatory, the city of Vardenis (1978), and at the central campus of Yerevan State University. It was first awarded in 2010 and is awarded every two years. The prize was initially $500,000, but was reduced to $300,000 in 2018. It is considered one of the prestigious awards in astronomy and related fields. ==Awards and honors==

State awards ;Soviet Union • Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society (1960) "for outstanding contributions to astrophysics" • Lomonosov Gold Medal of the Soviet Academy of Sciences, "for outstanding achievements in the field of astronomy and astrophysics" (1971) • Helmholtz Medal (Helmholtz-Medaille) of the Academy of Sciences of the German Democratic Republic (1971) • Cothenius Medal of the Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (1974) Membership ;Soviet Union • Corresponding Member of the USSR Academy of Sciences (1939) • Associate of the Royal Astronomical Society (1953) • Corresponding member (1958) and foreign associate (1978) of the French Academy of Sciences • Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1958) • Foreign Associate of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (1959) • Honorary Member of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (1959) • Foreign Member of the Royal Society (1969) Honorary degrees Ambartsumian received honorary doctorates from several universities: Australian National University (1963), University of Paris (1967), University of Liège (1967), Charles University in Prague (1967), Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń (1973), National University of La Plata (1974). ==Publications==

Throughout his career, Ambartsumian authored some 20 books and booklets and over 200 academic papers. and noted that in a short time it had found "many appreciative readers in both German and English speaking countries." George B. Field described the book as "comprehensively and competently constructed." A. David Andrews described it as a "valuable textbook", which "contains examples of [Ambartsumian's] unique and fruitful approaches to stubborn astronomical problems." Leonard Searle lauded the sections on stellar atmospheres, but criticized the section on interstellar material, especially the constitution of stars as outdated for ignoring fundamental post-war western contributions. ==See also==