“elected leaders of Nagorno-Karabakh regain control.”
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Victor Ambartsumian
Viktor Amazaspovich Ambartsumian 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.
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science · Soviet Armenian astrophysicist (1908–1996) · astrophysicist · politician · astronomer · scientist · also Victor Ambartsumian, Viktor Ambartsumian, Hambardzumyan Viktor, Viktor Hambardzumyan, Victor Hambardzumyan, Victor Hamazaspovich Hambardzumyan
Born 5 September 1908 · Died 12 August 1996 · Q164396
101 published statements · 0 followers
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2026· 2 entries
“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.”
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1996· 3 entries
Died 1996-08-12.
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The New York Times described Byurakan as "one of the world's leading astronomical research centers
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The Byurakan Observatory served as Ambartsumian's "institutional base
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1995· 2 entries
Awarded State Prize of the Russian Federation (1995).
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Congratulated Armenians worldwide with Armenia's independence and stated that the newly independent republic is "moving forward
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1994· 1 entry
Awarded National Hero of Armenia (1994).
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1993· 1 entry
Stepped down as president of the Armenian Academy of Sciences and in 1994 as chair of astrophysics at Yerevan State University
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1990· 1 entry
Became honorary president of the Philosophical Society of Armenia, which was created through his efforts
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1989· 1 entry
Was elected as a representative from Armenia to the Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union in the first relatively free elections
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1988· 2 entries
Awarded Order of the Badge of Honour (1988).
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Awarded Armenian SSR State Prize (1988).
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1983· 2 entries
Awarded Order of the October Revolution (1983).
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Ambartsumian was among 244 Soviet scientists who signed a statement attacking U
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1981· 1 entry
“one of a rather limited group of Soviet scholars of international stature who claim that dialectical materialism has assisted them in their work.”
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1978· 3 entries
Awarded Order of Lenin (1978).
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Won "Hammer and Sickle" gold medal (1978).
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Awarded Hero of Socialist Labour (1978).
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1977· 1 entry
That during his visit in 1934 Ambartsumian "was very free and very open
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1975· 2 entries
Was among 72 Soviet scientists who denounced the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to Soviet physicist and dissident Andrei Sakharov
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“there are situations when even an Academy member is helpless.”
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1974· 3 entries
Won Cothenius Medal (1974).
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Awarded Order of Lenin (1974).
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Mergelyan was not reelected to the presidium of the academy and was forced to leave it
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1973· 2 entries
Awarded Commander of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland (1973).
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Refused to meet Yuri Orlov, nuclear physicist and a prominent dissident, after having offered him a job in Yerevan
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1971· 4 entries
Won Lomonosov Gold Medal (1971).
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Won Helmholtz Medal (1971).
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Was among leading 14 Soviet scientists who signed a letter to U
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Ambartsumian persuaded him to return to Armenia from Moscow and become vice president of the Armenian Academy of Sciences
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1969· 2 entries
Awarded Foreign Member of the Royal Society (1969).
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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
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1968· 5 entries
Awarded Order of Lenin (1968).
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Won "Hammer and Sickle" gold medal (1968).
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Awarded Hero of Socialist Labour (1968).
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The observatory was awarded the Order of Lenin, the Soviet Union's highest civilian order for its great merit to the development of science
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Career landmark: chairperson (1968–1972).
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1965· 3 entries
Awarded doctor honoris causa from the University of Paris (1965).
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Ambartsumian founded the journal Astrofizika (Armenian: Աստղաֆիզիկա, Russian: Астрофизика), which has been published by the Armenian Academy of Sciences since then
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Ambartsumian founded the journal Astrofizika and served as its editor for over 20 years
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1962· 2 entries
“The history of our culture has given many outstanding figures, but of all these figures, the Armenian people owe the most to Mashtots.”
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And the 100th anniversary of Hovhannes Tumanyan, Armenia's national poet, in 1969
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1961· 3 entries
Ambartsumian supervised the establishment of an astrophysical station of Leningrad State University, his alma mater, within the grounds of the Byurakan Observatory
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Reflected both the appreciation for his efforts in this respect and his outstanding scientific achievements
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Career landmark: chairperson (1961–1964).
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1960· 4 entries
Won Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society (1960).
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Won Medal "For Labour Valour" (1960).
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Won Bruce Medal (1960).
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Ambartsumian secured a Schmidt telescope with 40І (102 cm) correcting plate and 52І (132 cm) mirror for Byurakan
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1959· 2 entries
That the "idea of the existence of God, the idea of world-creation has been defeated entirely
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“idea of the existence of God, the idea of world-creation has been defeated entirely.”
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1958· 1 entry
Awarded Order of Lenin (1958).
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1956· 3 entries
Won Janssen Medal (1956).
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Awarded Prix Jules Janssen (1956).
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Popularly known as the "Mergelyan Institute" after its first director, mathematician Sergey Mergelyan
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1955· 1 entry
Became a member of the academy's presidium, the governing body
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1953· 1 entry
Awarded Order of the Red Banner of Labour (1953).
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1951· 2 entries
Though the official inauguration took place in 1956
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However, the IAU Executive Committee canceled the assembly, increasing tensions within the IAU
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1950· 3 entries
Awarded USSR State Prize (1950).
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Awarded State Stalin Prize, 1st degree (1950).
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Career landmark: deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union (1950–1990).
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1948· 1 entry
Became a member of the Central Committee (the executive branch) of the Communist Party of the Armenian SSR
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1947· 4 entries
To continue the pre-war atheist work of the League of Militant Godless
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Became the academy's second president, serving for 46 years until 1993
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Ambartsumian discovered stellar associations, a new type of stellar system, which led to the conclusion that star formation continues to take place in the Milky Way galaxy
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Career landmark: president (1947–1993).
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1946· 5 entries
Awarded USSR State Prize (1946).
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Awarded Stalin Prize, 2nd degree (1946).
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Between 1946 and 1996 Ambartsumian mostly divided his time between Yerevan and Byurakan.
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Ambartsumian founded the Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory in the village of Byurakan, at an altittude of 1,405 m (4,610 ft), on the slopes of Mount Aragats, some 35 km (22 mi) from Yerevan
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Career landmark: director (1946).
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1945· 2 entries
Awarded Order of Lenin (1945).
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“this observatory did not rise significantly above the level of amateur variable star observations. During the war they also carried out photographic observations of variable stars using a small camera.”
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1944· 1 entry
Awarded Order of the Red Banner of Labour (1944).
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1943· 2 entries
Ambartsumian moved with his family to Yerevan, Soviet Armenia, where he lived until the end of his life
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Introduced the principle of invariance, a method introduced by Ambartsumian in a theory of radiation transfer
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1941· 2 entries
Awarded Deserved scientist of ArmSSR (1941).
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After the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union
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1939· 1 entry
“s results two years after he published his work. Science administration Soviet Academy of Sciences Ambartsumian was elected corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences in 1939 and full member (academician) in 1953. In 1955 he became a member of the academy”
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1936· 1 entry
Computed tomography might have been able to make significant contributions to, say, the diagnosis of tumors in the head
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1935· 1 entry
It was not until 1943 that the National Academy of Sciences of the Armenian SSR was found
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1934· 3 entries
Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar visited Leningrad, he was told by Ambartsumian, "Look here, here is a set of papers by Gerasimovich
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Ambartsumian was fired by Pulkovo director Boris Gerasimovich for alleged "laziness
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Was named professor at LSU and in 1935 he was named doctor of physical-mathematical sciences without having to defend a thesis "based on his scientific work through that date
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1931· 3 entries
Ambartsumian began reading the first course on theoretical astrophysics in the Soviet Union
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Studied at Pulkovo Observatory (1928–1931).
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Ambartsumian began working at the Pulkovo Observatory and teaching part-time at LSU
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1930· 1 entry
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
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1928· 2 entries
Studied at Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of the Saint Petersburg University (1925–1928).
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Although he received his diploma only fifty years later—in 1978
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1926· 1 entry
Published the first of his 16 scholarly papers as a student
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1925· 1 entry
Studied at Herzen University (1924–1925).
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1924· 2 entries
Ambartsumian delivered a lecture at Yerevan State University about the theory of relativity
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Ambartsumian moved to Leningrad, where he began attending the Herzen Pedagogical Institute
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1922· 1 entry
After the 14-year-old boy described Sirius to him, Tumanyan wrote a short poem about the star
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1921· 1 entry
Transferred to gymnasium #4 to study under Nikolay Ignatievich Sudakov, a Moscow-educated astronomer, whom Ambartsumian called a "very serious teacher of astronomy
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1912· 1 entry
Co-founded the Caucasian Society of Armenian Writers, which lasted until 1921
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1908· 1 entry
Born 1908-09-05.
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1830· 1 entry
In the aftermath of the Russo-Turkish War
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