Mikhail Petrovich Shumayev (22 April 1924 - 5 February 1995) was a Soviet

nuclear physicist Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies atomic nuclei and their constituents and interactions, in addition to the study of other forms of nuclear matter. Nuclear physics should not be confused with atomic physics, which studies the ...

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

and

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe th ...

. He was a co-developer of the

RDS-37 RDS-37 was the Soviet Union's first two-stage hydrogen bomb, first tested on 22 November 1955. The weapon had a nominal yield of approximately 3 megatons. It was scaled down to 1.6 megatons for the live test. Leading to the RDS-37 The RDS-3 ...

, the Soviet Union's first two-stage

thermonuclear bomb A thermonuclear weapon, fusion weapon or hydrogen bomb (H bomb) is a second-generation nuclear weapon design. Its greater sophistication affords it vastly greater destructive power than first-generation nuclear bombs, a more compact size, a lowe ...

. He was born in Bol'shiye Alabukhi,

Gribanovsky District Gribanovsky District (russian: Гриба́новский райо́н) is an administrativeLaw #87-OZ and municipalLaw #88-ZO district (raion), one of the thirty-two in Voronezh Oblast, Russia. It is located in the northeast of the oblast. The a ...

Voronezh Oblast Voronezh Oblast (russian: Воронежская область, Voronezhskaya oblast) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Voronezh. Its population was 2,308,792 as of the 2021 Census. Geography V ...

. He left high school in 1941 and worked on a farm collective. From 1942, he fought on the

Eastern Front (World War II) The Eastern Front of World War II was a Theater (warfare), theatre of conflict between the European Axis powers against the Soviet Union (USSR), Polish Armed Forces in the East, Poland and other Allies of World War II, Allies, which encom ...

and was involved in the defence of

Stalingrad Volgograd ( rus, Волгогра́д, a=ru-Volgograd.ogg, p=vəɫɡɐˈɡrat), geographical renaming, formerly Tsaritsyn (russian: Цари́цын, Tsarítsyn, label=none; ) (1589–1925), and Stalingrad (russian: Сталингра́д, Stal ...

. He was discharged after being wounded in February 1943. Between 1944 and 1945, he studied at the Ivanovo Institute of Chemical Technology before transferring to

Moscow State University M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU; russian: Московский государственный университет имени М. В. Ломоносова) is a public research university in Moscow, Russia and the most prestigious ...

to study physics, graduating with honours in 1950. He was sent to KB-11, now the

All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Experimental Physics The All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Experimental Physics (VNIIEF) (russian: Всероссийский научно-исследовательский институт экспериментальной физики) is a research inst ...

in the closed city of

Sarov Sarov (russian: Саро́в) is a closed town in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It was known as Gorkiy-130 (Горький-130) and Arzamas-16 (), after a (somewhat) nearby town of Arzamas,SarovLabsCreation of Nuclear Center Arzamas-16/ref ...

Nizhny Novgorod Nizhny Novgorod ( ; rus, links=no, Нижний Новгород, a=Ru-Nizhny Novgorod.ogg, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj ˈnovɡərət ), colloquially shortened to Nizhny, from the 13th to the 17th century Novgorod of the Lower Land, formerly known as Gork ...

region, where he worked as a senior engineer on thermonuclear weapons in

Igor Tamm Igor Yevgenyevich Tamm ( rus, И́горь Евге́ньевич Тамм , p=ˈiɡərʲ jɪvˈɡʲenʲjɪvitɕ ˈtam , a=Ru-Igor Yevgenyevich Tamm.ogg; 8 July 1895 – 12 April 1971) was a Soviet physicist who received the 1958 Nobel Prize in ...

's group. This group developed, tested and improved megatonne-yield thermonuclear weapons. In 1955, he transferred to the Scientific Research Institute-1011. Later, his working group developed nuclear charges for an aerial bomb, the R-13 rocket and the X-20M cruise missile. For this work in equipping bombs and missile systems, he and his colleagues received the Lenin Prize in addition to other state awards for their involvement in the development of his country's nuclear defences. He wrote a further degree thesis in 1960 and was awarded a Ph.D. in 1968. Later he became head of the theoretical department of the 1011 group, a role he remained in until 1990, when he became a chief researcher. He trained many scientists and was part of the committees and commissions which awarded state prizes, degrees and titles related to his areas of expertise. He retired in August 1991. He died in

Obninsk Obninsk (russian: О́бнинск) is a city in Kaluga Oblast, Russia, located on the bank of the Protva River southwest of Moscow and northeast of Kaluga. Population: History The history of Obninsk began in 1945 when the First Research In ...

Kaluga Oblast Kaluga Oblast (russian: Калу́жская о́бласть, translit=Kaluzhskaya oblast) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Kaluga. The 2021 Russian Census found a population of 1,069,904. G ...

Awards

* 1953:

Medal "For Labour Valour" The Medal "For Labour Valour" (russian: Медаль «За трудовую доблесть») was a civilian labour award of the Soviet Union bestowed to especially deserving workers to recognise and honour dedicated and valorous labour or ...

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, ...

2nd Degree. * 1958: Lenin Prize. * 1956, 1975, 1981:

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 ...

. * 1976:

Order of the October Revolution The Order of the October Revolution (russian: Орден Октябрьской Революции, ''Orden Oktyabr'skoy Revolyutsii'') was instituted on October 31, 1967, in time for the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution. It was conferr ...

. * 1971:

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 ...

. * 1985:

Order of the Patriotic War The Order of the Patriotic War (russian: Орден Отечественной войны, Orden Otechestvennoy voiny) is a Soviet military decoration that was awarded to all soldiers in the Soviet armed forces, security troops, and to partisan ...

2nd Degree.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shumayev, Mikhail Petrovich Soviet nuclear physicists Soviet chemists Soviet engineers Moscow State University alumni Heroes of Socialist Labour 1924 births 1995 deaths