Feodosy Nikolaevich Krasovsky (russian: Феодосий Николаевич Красовский) ( – October 1, 1948) was a Russian and later

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, g ...

and

geodesist Geodesy ( ) is the Earth science of accurately measuring and understanding Earth's figure (geometric shape and size), orientation in space, and gravity. The field also incorporates studies of how these properties change over time and equivale ...

. He was born in Galich. In 1900 he graduated from the ''Mezhevoy'' (land surveying) ''Institute'' in

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 million ...

; in 1907 he began working as a lecturer there.

Research work

At the end of

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly proving the existence of DNA. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris Bazhanov, J ...

the '' Central Research Institute of Geodesy, Aerial Surveying and Cartography'' (TsNIIGAiK) was founded on his initiative; he worked there as a director (1928–1930) and as a deputy director of science (1930–1937). Between 1924 and 1930 Krasovsky headed astronomical, geodetical and

cartographical Cartography (; from grc, χάρτης , "papyrus, sheet of paper, map"; and , "write") is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an im ...

works in the USSR. He worked out the theory and methods of construction of the national geodetical network of the USSR and solved related problems of

topography Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the land forms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps. Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary sci ...

and

gravimetry Gravimetry is the measurement of the strength of a gravitational field. Gravimetry may be used when either the magnitude of a gravitational field or the properties of matter responsible for its creation are of interest. Units of measurement Gr ...

works. Krasovsky and another Soviet geodesist, Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Izotov, in 1940 defined dimensions of an

ellipsoid An ellipsoid is a surface that may be obtained from a sphere by deforming it by means of directional scalings, or more generally, of an affine transformation. An ellipsoid is a quadric surface; that is, a surface that may be defined as the ...

which was named the Krasovsky ellipsoid and was later used as a

reference ellipsoid An Earth ellipsoid or Earth spheroid is a mathematical figure approximating the Earth's form, used as a reference frame for computations in geodesy, astronomy, and the geosciences. Various different ellipsoids have been used as approximations ...

in the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

and other countries until the 1990s.p.464, The American Congress on Surveying and Mapping In 1939 Krasovsky became the Corresponding Member of the

USSR Academy of Sciences The Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union was the highest scientific institution of the Soviet Union from 1925 to 1991, uniting the country's leading scientists, subordinated directly to the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union (until 1946 ...

. Krasovsky died in

in 1948.

Awards

Stalin Prize Stalin Prize may refer to: * The State Stalin Prize in science and engineering and in arts, awarded 1941 to 1954, later known as the USSR State Prize The USSR State Prize (russian: links=no, Государственная премия СССР, ...

(1943, 1952 – posthumously) *

Order of the Red Banner The Order of the Red Banner (russian: Орден Красного Знамени, Orden Krasnogo Znameni) was the first Soviet military decoration. The Order was established on 16 September 1918, during the Russian Civil War by decree of th ...

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 b ...

Citations and notes

References

* Gillispie Coulston, Charles, ''Dictionary of Scientific Biography'', v.7, American Council of Learned Societies, Scribner, 1972 * Farbman, Michael, ''Europa'', Europa publications limited, 1930 * ''Surveying and Mapping: quarterly publication of American Congress on Surveying and Mapping'', v.23, American Congress on Surveying and Mapping, United States Superintendent of Documents, Superintendent of Documents, 1963 * Guelke, Leonard, ''Cartographica'', York University (Toronto, Ont.), Department of Geography, Canadian Cartographic Association, University of Toronto Press, 1971

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Krasovsky, Feodosy 1878 births 1948 deaths Astronomers from the Russian Empire Soviet astronomers Cartographers from the Russian Empire Russian geodesists Stalin Prize winners Soviet geodesists Corresponding Members of the USSR Academy of Sciences

Research work

Awards

See also

Citations and notes

References

External links