Karl K. Rebane (11 April 1926, in Pärnu – 4 November 2007, in Pärnu) was an

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate caus ...

. He studied at the

Tallinn Technical University Established in 1918, Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech; et, Tallinna Tehnikaülikool) is the only technical university in Estonia. TalTech, in the capital city of Tallinn, is a university for engineering, business, public administrati ...

from 1947 to 1949, and graduated from Leningrad University in 1952. Rebane received a PhD in Solid State Theory in 1955 from the Leningrad (St. Petersburg) University and a Doctor of Science degree in Theoretical Physics in 1964 from the Institute of Physics of the Belarusian AS at Minsk. He joined Tartu University in 1955 where he held both teaching and administrative positions, including Professor and Chair of the Experimental Physics Department (1958–60), and Professor and Chair of the Joint Department of Laser Optics at the Institute of Physics and Tartu University (1974–1993). He was president of the

Estonian Academy of Sciences Founded in 1938, the Estonian Academy of Sciences ( et, Eesti Teaduste Akadeemia) is Estonia's national academy of science in Tallinn. As with other national academies, it is an independent group of well-known scientists whose stated aim is to ...

from 1973 to 1990.

Early life

Karl Rebane was born on April 11, 1926 in Pärnu, Estonia. His father, Karl Rebane sr, was a bookkeeper. He was the second oldest out of five children. His brothers were , Toomas Rebane ( :et) and . The war reached Estonia in 1941 and his family evacuated to a small village in the oblast of

Chelyabinsk Chelyabinsk ( rus, Челя́бинск, p=tɕɪˈlʲæbʲɪnsk, a=Ru-Chelyabinsk.ogg; ba, Силәбе, ''Siläbe'') is the administrative center and largest city of Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia. It is the seventh-largest city in Russia, with a ...

where he worked at the local kolkhoz and attended a school for displaced Estonian children in Verkhneuralsk. In the spring of 1944, he was called into military service and joined ''Eesti Laskurkorpus'', an Estonian division of the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

, where he was a crew member of a 45 mm antitank gun. He was wounded in battle on November 23, 1944 on the

Sõrve peninsula Sõrve is a village in Harku Parish, Harju County in northern Estonia. (retrieved 27 July 2021) It has a population of 197 (as of 1 June 2010). Sõrve was first mentioned in 1241 as ''Serueueræ'' village in the Danish Census Book The Danish ...

, Estonia.

Awards and honours

''For research and scientific activity:'' *1965 - *1981 - from the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union for achievements in the field of Physics *1986 - *1986 -

Hero of Socialist Labour The Hero of Socialist Labour (russian: links=no, Герой Социалистического Труда, Geroy Sotsialisticheskogo Truda) was an honorific title in the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact countries from 1938 to 1991. It repre ...

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 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 ...

*1993 -

Humboldt Research Award The Humboldt Prize, the Humboldt-Forschungspreis in German, also known as the Humboldt Research Award, is an award given by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation of Germany to internationally renowned scientists and scholars who work outside of G ...

(Germany) *1996 - Estonian National Research Award (as part of a collective) for research work in exact sciences, chemistry, and biology *2000 - Order of Friendship of the Russian Federation *2001 - Estonian National Research Award for outstanding lifetime achievements in research and development *2002 - Royal Norwegian Order of Merit *2003
Cariplo Research Fellowship
(Italy) *2006 -

Order of the White Star The Order of the White Star ( et, Valgetähe teenetemärk; french: Ordre de l'Etoile Blanche) was instituted in 1936. The Order of the White Star is bestowed on Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic ...

Class III

Family

He was married to

Ljubov Rebane Ljubov A. Rebane (née Chagalova) (September 6, 1929 Leningrad – June 13, 1991 Tallinn) was an Estonian physicist. She graduated from Leningrad University in 1952 and received a PhD in Physics and Mathematics in 1961 from the same university. ...

, and had two children, Inna and

Aleksander Rebane Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

. He also had three brothers, Jaan, Toomas, and Jüri Rebane. His granddaughter is writer and mathematician

Helju Rebane Helju Rebane (born 18 July 1948) is an Estonian writer. She writes mainly prose and science fiction in the Estonian and Russian languages. She was born in Tallinn. Her father was philosopher and her uncles were physicist and former president of ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rebane, Karl 20th-century Estonian physicists Saint Petersburg State University alumni People from Pärnu 1926 births 2007 deaths Tallinn University of Technology alumni University of Tartu faculty Recipients of the Order of the White Star, 3rd Class Soviet military personnel of World War II