Genrikh Saulovich Altshuller (Ге́нрих Сау́лович Альтшу́ллер, ) (born Tashkent, Uzbek SSR, USSR, 15 October 1926; died Petrozavodsk, Russia, 24 September 1998), was a Soviet engineer, inventor, and writer. He is most notable for the creation of the

Theory of Inventive Problem Solving TRIZ (; russian: теория решения изобретательских задач, ', lit. "theory of inventive problem solving") is “the next evolutionary step in creating an organized and systematic approach to problem solving. The deve ...

, better known by its Russia acronym TRIZ. He founded the Azerbaijan Public Institute for Inventive Creation, and was the first President of the TRIZ Association. He also wrote science fiction under the pen-name Genrikh Altov.

Early life

Working as a clerk in a patent office, Altshuller embarked on finding some generic rules that would explain creation of new, inventive, patentable ideas. He eventually created the ''Teoriya Resheniya Izobreatatelskikh Zadach'' (Theory of Inventive Problem Solving or TRIZ)).

Arrest and imprisonment

During Joseph Stalin's political purges of members of the Communist Party in 1950, he was imprisoned for political reasons and continued his studies with his fellow inmates while in a

labor camp A labor camp (or labour camp, see spelling differences) or work camp is a detention facility where inmates are forced to engage in penal labor as a form of punishment. Labor camps have many common aspects with slavery and with prisons (especi ...

. After his release in 1954, Altshuller settled in

Baku Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world a ...

, Azerbaijan.

The spread of TRIZ in the Soviet Union

A full-fledged TRIZ movement developed among Soviet engineers and other technically inclined people by the 1970s, and Altshuller played the role of its intellectual leader. He lectured at TRIZ congresses, published articles and books and corresponded with various TRIZ practitioners. He became the founding member and president of the Russian TRIZ Association. A number of his close friends and students have become the most prominent thinkers and teachers of the movement, popularizing TRIZ in Russia and abroad. For a long time he published articles on TRIZ, with examples and exercises, in the Soviet popular science magazine ''Izobretatel i Ratsionalizator'' (''Inventor and Innovator'').

After the Soviet collapse

Altshuller left Baku in the early 1990s amidst post-Soviet-breakup violence in the area. He settled in Petrozavodsk (

Karelia Karelia ( Karelian and fi, Karjala, ; rus, Каре́лия, links=y, r=Karélija, p=kɐˈrʲelʲɪjə, historically ''Korjela''; sv, Karelen), the land of the Karelian people, is an area in Northern Europe of historical significance for ...

in north-western Russia) with his wife and granddaughter. As a result, Petrozavodsk became the center of the TRIZ Association. He died from complications of Parkinson's disease in 1998.

Science Fiction

Following his release from prison camp in the 1950s, he earned a living as a science fiction writer, under the pseudonym Genrikh Altov (Генрих Альтов), often in collaboration with his wife,

Valentina Zhuravleva Valentina Nikolayevna Zhuravlyova (russian: Валентина Николаевна Журавлёва, July 17, 1933 – March 12, 2004) was a Soviet science fiction writer. Valentina Zhuravlyova was the wife of Genrich Altshuller, the inventor ...

Science fiction published as Genrich Altov

*Икар и Дедал 1958 (Icarus and Daedalus) *Легенды о звездных капитанах 1961 (Legends of Starship Captains) *Опаляющий разум 1968 (Scorching Mind) *Создан для бури 1970 (Made for the Storm) *Летящие по Вселенной 2002, with

(They Who Fly Through Space)

External links

Full Biography
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Altshuller, Genrich 1926 births 1998 deaths Deaths from Parkinson's disease Patent examiners Altov, Genrich Systems engineers Soviet engineers Soviet science fiction writers Neurological disease deaths in Russia Engineers from Tashkent Engineers from Baku TRIZ Soviet novelists Soviet male writers 20th-century male writers Soviet Jews Soviet essayists Writers from Baku