Viktor Lvovich Kirpichov (russian: Ви́ктор Льво́вич Кирпичё́в; ,

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

– ,

) was a prominent

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

n Imperial engineer, physicist, and educational organizer, known especially for his work on applied and structural mechanics as well as for establishing the foundations for technical education in the

Early biography

Viktor Lvovich Kirpichov belonged to

Russian nobility The Russian nobility (russian: дворянство ''dvoryanstvo'') originated in the 14th century. In 1914 it consisted of approximately 1,900,000 members (about 1.1% of the population) in the Russian Empire. Up until the February Revolution ...

from

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

. He graduated from the

Polotsk Polotsk (russian: По́лоцк; be, По́лацк, translit=Polatsk (BGN/PCGN), Polack (official transliteration); lt, Polockas; pl, Połock) is a historical city in Belarus, situated on the Dvina River. It is the center of the Polotsk Distr ...

military school (1862) and St.Michael artillery school in

(1863). In 1863–1870 he was in the faculty of

Kronstadt Kronstadt (russian: Кроншта́дт, Kronshtadt ), also spelled Kronshtadt, Cronstadt or Kronštádt (from german: link=no, Krone for "crown" and ''Stadt'' for "city") is a Russian port city in Kronshtadtsky District of the federal city of ...

military academy where he taught material science and mechanics. In 1873 he was a postdoc student of

Gustav Kirchhoff Gustav Robert Kirchhoff (; 12 March 1824 – 17 October 1887) was a German physicist who contributed to the fundamental understanding of electrical circuits, spectroscopy, and the emission of black-body radiation by heated objects. He coine ...

in Germany. After that, until his move to Ukraine in 1885, he was a professor at Saint Petersburg Technological Institute. In 1882, he was responsible for investigation of the

Borki train disaster The Borki train disaster occurred on October 29, 1888 (N.S.), near Borki station in the former Kharkov Governorate of the Russian Empire (present-day Birky, Chuhuiv Raion, Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine), 295 kilometers south of Kursk, when the imperia ...

University founder in the south of the Russian Empire

Viktor Kirpichov is the most widely known in modern-day

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

as the founder and first rector of two prominent technical universities in this country (then a part of the Russian Empire): * Kharkov Polytechnic Institute of Emperor Alexander III (a rector in 1885–1898) * Kiev Polytechnic Institute of Emperor Alexander II (a rector in 1898–1902) Founding these universities was a part of wide program of technical education in the Russian Empire set up by

Dmitriy Mendeleev Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev (sometimes transliterated as Mendeleyev or Mendeleef) ( ; russian: links=no, Дмитрий Иванович Менделеев, tr. , ; 8 February Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O.S._27_January.html" ;"title="O ...

. Professor Kirpichov was a prominent provider of this program serving as a member of both a Working Committee for elaborating the project of common plan for professional education in the Russian Empire (1884), and the Committee for higher education (1897).

USA visit

In 1893, Kirpichov was invited to USA, where he was an expert at the Chicago world's fair and visited numerous engineering facilities.

Later years

During his last years, Professor Kirpichov returned to Saint Petersburg, where he taught applied mechanics in Saint Petersburg Technological Institute. He remained a Honored Professor of Kiev Polytechnic Institute until the end of his life. He was buried at the Lutheran

Volkovo Cemetery The Volkovo Cemetery (also Volkovskoe) (russian: Во́лковское кла́дбище or Во́лково кла́дбище) is one of the largest and oldest non-Orthodox cemeteries in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Until the early 20th century it ...

References

Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirpichov, Viktor Engineers from Saint Petersburg Military Engineering-Technical University faculty 1845 births 1913 deaths Kyiv Polytechnic Institute rectors Privy Councillor (Russian Empire) Saint Petersburg State Institute of Technology faculty