Elizaveta Shahkhatuni (Armenian: Ելիզավետա Շահխաթունի, Russian: Елизавета Аветовна Шахатуни; 22 December 1911 – 28 October 2011) was a Soviet-Ukrainian aeronautical engineer and university teacher of Armenian origin. She was the second of three wives of Oleg Antonov.

Biography

Elizaveta Avetovna Shahkhatuni was born in present-day

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ' ...

in December 1911. Her mother was a teacher while her father Awetis Schachatunjan was a Transcaucasian politician and one of the exponents of the

Armenian Revolutionary Federation The Armenian Revolutionary Federation ( hy, Հայ Յեղափոխական Դաշնակցութիւն, ՀՅԴ ( classical spelling), abbr. ARF or ARF-D) also known as Dashnaktsutyun (collectively referred to as Dashnaks for short), is an Armenian ...

. Shahkhatuni left school to study in the engineering faculty of the

Yerevan State University Yerevan State University (YSU; hy, Երևանի Պետական Համալսարան, ԵՊՀ, ''Yerevani Petakan Hamalsaran''), also simply University of Yerevan, is the oldest continuously operating public university in Armenia. Founded in 1919 ...

for two years. She then joined the

Moscow Aviation Institute Moscow Aviation Institute (National Research University) (MAI; russian: Московский авиационный институт, МАИ) is one of the major engineering institutes in Moscow, Russia. Since its inception MAI has been spearhe ...

(MAI) in 1930. Shahkhatuni started there in second year of the course. She worked in the circle of glider pilots. After graduating in 1935, she started working in the aviation industry. By 1937, though interested in strength and stability calculations Shahkhatuni had become a weapons and equipment specialist in the

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

Ilyushin aircraft plant. Within six months, she managed to move to a small civilian glider factory in

Tushino Tushino ( rus, Тушино, p=ˈtuʂɨnə) is a former village and town to the north of Moscow, which has been part of the city's area since 1960. Between 1939 and 1960, Tushino was classed as a separate town. The Skhodnya River flows across the ...

. Shahkhatuni remained there until 1939. The chief designer there was Oleg Konstantinovich Antonov. In 1941 Antonov was ordered to organize glider production in Kaunas and he selected Shahkhatuni for his design office. Shahkhatuni married Antonov before the start of the

German-Soviet war The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of conflict between the European Axis powers against the Soviet Union (USSR), Poland and other Allies, which encompassed Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Northeast Europe (Baltics), and Sout ...

. Once the war broke out the whole engineering office was evacuated to Moscow. Shahkhatuni worked in the

Yakovlev The Joint-stock company, JSC A.S. Yakovlev Design Bureau (russian: ОАО Опытно-конструкторское бюро им. А.С. Яковлева) is a Russian aircraft designer and manufacturer (design office prefix Yak). Its head offi ...

engineering office until 1945. Shahkhatuni carried out the strength calculations for the double-decker glider for air transport armored vehicles and later when Antonov was working in the Novosibirsk aircraft plant in 1946, she led the department which completed the strength calculations for the SChA-1 biplane, the forerunner of the Antonov An-2. Shahkhatuni become a professor and doctor of technical science and taught at the Kyiv Institute of Civil Aviation Engineers. She continued to work on the calculations for Antonov's airplane designs including among other things invented a welding - bonding process with which the aircraft service life was significantly increased. After her death on 28 October 2011 there was an Armenian funeral service on October 30, 2011 and a civil service on October 31. Shahkhatuni was buried with Armenian earth in the

Baikove Cemetery Baikove Cemetery ( uk, Байкове кладовище) is a historic cemetery memorial in Holosiiv Raion of Kyiv, Ukraine. It is a National Historic Landmark of Ukraine and is known as a necropolis of distinguished people. It was established i ...

in Kyiv.

Awards

* Lenin Prize (1962) for the development of the Antonov An-22 *

Order of Lenin The Order of Lenin (russian: Орден Ленина, Orden Lenina, ), named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was established by the Central Executive Committee on April 6, 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration ...

Order of the Red Banner of Labour The Order of the Red Banner of Labour (russian: Орден Трудового Красного Знамени, translit=Orden Trudovogo Krasnogo Znameni) was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to th ...

Order of the Badge of Honour The Order of the Badge of Honour (russian: орден «Знак Почёта», orden "Znak Pochyota") was a civilian award of the Soviet Union. It was established on 25 November 1935, and was conferred on citizens of the USSR for outstanding ...

References and sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shahkhatuni, Elizaveta 1911 births 2011 deaths Burials at Baikove Cemetery Soviet Armenians Soviet women engineers Engineers from Yerevan Soviet engineers 20th-century Ukrainian engineers Ukrainian people of Armenian descent Ukrainian women engineers Ukrainian women academics