Yuri Tsolakovich Oganessian (russian: Юрий Цолакович Оганесян ; ''Yuri Ts'olaki Hovhannisyan'' .
Oganessian is the Russified version of the Armenian last name
Hovhannisyan. The article on Oganessian in the ''
Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia
The ''Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia'' ( hy, Հայկական սովետական հանրագիտարան, ''Haykakan sovetakan hanragitaran''; ASE) publishing house was established in 1967 as a department of the Institute of History of the Arme ...
'' (1980) described him as an "Armenian Soviet physicist." born 14 April 1933) is a
Russian-Armenian
Armenians in Russia or Russian Armenians are one of the country's largest ethnic minorities and the largest Armenian diaspora community outside Armenia. The 2010 Russian census recorded 1,182,388 Armenians in the country. Various figures estimate ...
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 ...
who is considered the world's leading researcher in
superheavy chemical elements.
He led the discovery of many elements in the
periodic table
The periodic table, also known as the periodic table of the (chemical) elements, is a rows and columns arrangement of the chemical elements. It is widely used in chemistry, physics, and other sciences, and is generally seen as an icon of ...
.
He succeeded
Georgy Flyorov
Georgii Nikolayevich Flyorov (also spelled Flerov, rus, Гео́ргий Никола́евич Флёров, p=gʲɪˈorgʲɪj nʲɪkɐˈlajɪvʲɪtɕ ˈflʲɵrəf; 2 March 1913 – 19 November 1990) was a Soviet physicist who is known for h ...
as director of the Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions at the
Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in 1989 and is now its scientific leader.
The heaviest element known in the
periodic table
The periodic table, also known as the periodic table of the (chemical) elements, is a rows and columns arrangement of the chemical elements. It is widely used in chemistry, physics, and other sciences, and is generally seen as an icon of ...
,
oganesson, is named after him, only the second time that an element was named after a living person (the other being
seaborgium
Seaborgium is a Synthetic element, synthetic chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Sg and atomic number 106. It is named after the American nuclear chemist Glenn T. Seaborg. As a synthetic element, it can be created in a laboratory ...
).
Personal life
Yuri Tsolakovich Oganessian was born in
Rostov-on-Don
Rostov-on-Don ( rus, Ростов-на-Дону, r=Rostov-na-Donu, p=rɐˈstof nə dɐˈnu) is a port city and the administrative centre of Rostov Oblast and the Southern Federal District of Russia. It lies in the southeastern part of the East ...
, Russia, on 14 April 1933
to
Armenian
Armenian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent
** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...
parents. His father was from
Iğdır
Iğdır (Turkish ; ku, Îdir or ; hy, Իգդիր, Igdir, also ) is the capital of Iğdır Province in the Eastern Anatolia Region of Turkey.
History
Iğdır went by the Armenian name of Tsolakert during the Middle Ages. s.v. "Igdir," Armen ...
(now in Turkey),
while his mother was from
Armavir in Russia's
Krasnodar Krai
Krasnodar Krai (russian: Краснода́рский край, r=Krasnodarsky kray, p=krəsnɐˈdarskʲɪj kraj) is a federal subject of Russia (a krai), located in the North Caucasus region in Southern Russia and administratively a part o ...
.
Oganessian spent his childhood in
Yerevan
Yerevan ( , , hy, Երևան , sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and ...
, the capital of
Soviet Armenia
The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic,; russian: Армянская Советская Социалистическая Республика, translit=Armyanskaya Sovetskaya Sotsialisticheskaya Respublika) also commonly referred to as Soviet A ...
, where his family relocated in 1939. His father, Tsolak, a
thermal engineer, was invited to work on the
synthetic rubber
A synthetic rubber is an artificial elastomer. They are polymers synthesized from petroleum byproducts. About 32-million metric tons of rubbers are produced annually in the United States, and of that amount two thirds are synthetic. Synthetic rubbe ...
plant in Yerevan. When the
Eastern Front of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
broke out, his family decided to not return to Rostov since it was occupied by Nazis. Yuri attended and finished school in Yerevan.
He initially wanted to become a painter.
Oganessian was married to Irina Levonovna (1932–2010), a violinist and a music teacher in
Dubna
Dubna ( rus, Дубна́, p=dʊbˈna) is a town in Moscow Oblast, Russia. It has a status of '' naukograd'' (i.e. town of science), being home to the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, an international nuclear physics research center and one ...
, with whom he had two daughters. As of 2017, his daughters resided in the US.
Oganessian speaks Russian,
Armenian
Armenian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent
** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...
,
and English.
Career
Oganessian moved to Russia, where he graduated from the
Moscow Engineering Physics Institute (MEPhI) in 1956.
He thereafter sought to join the
Kurchatov Institute of Atomic Energy in Moscow, but as there were no vacancies left in
Gersh Budker
Gersh Itskovich Budker (Герш Ицкович Будкер), also named Andrey Mikhailovich Budker (1 May 1918 – 4 July 1977), was a Soviet physicist, specialized in nuclear physics and accelerator physics.
Biography
He was elected a Correspo ...
's team, he was instead recruited by
Georgy Flyorov
Georgii Nikolayevich Flyorov (also spelled Flerov, rus, Гео́ргий Никола́евич Флёров, p=gʲɪˈorgʲɪj nʲɪkɐˈlajɪvʲɪtɕ ˈflʲɵrəf; 2 March 1913 – 19 November 1990) was a Soviet physicist who is known for h ...
and began working at the
Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) in
Dubna
Dubna ( rus, Дубна́, p=dʊbˈna) is a town in Moscow Oblast, Russia. It has a status of '' naukograd'' (i.e. town of science), being home to the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, an international nuclear physics research center and one ...
, near Moscow.
He became director of the Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions at JINR in 1989, after Flerov retired, and remained in the position until 1996, when he was named the scientific leader of the Flerov.
Discovery of superheavy chemical elements
In the 1970s, Oganessian invented the "cold fusion" method
(unrelated to the unproven energy-producing process
cold fusion), a technique to produce
transactinide elements (superheavy elements). It played a vital role in the discoveries of elements from 106 to 113.
From the mid-1970s to the mid-1990s, the partnership of JINR, led by Oganessian, and the
GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research
The GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research (german: GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung) is a federally and state co-funded heavy ion () research center in the Wixhausen suburb of Darmstadt, Germany. It was founded in 1969 as t ...
in Germany, led to the discovery of six chemical elements (107 to 112):
bohrium,
meitnerium
Meitnerium is a synthetic chemical element with the symbol Mt and atomic number 109. It is an extremely radioactive synthetic element (an element not found in nature, but can be created in a laboratory). The most stable known isotope, meitnerium- ...
,
hassium,
darmstadtium
Darmstadtium is a chemical element with the symbol Ds and atomic number 110. It is an extremely radioactive synthetic element. The most stable known isotope, darmstadtium-281, has a half-life of approximately 12.7 seconds. Darmstadtium was first ...
,
roentgenium, and
copernicium
Copernicium is a synthetic chemical element with the symbol Cn and atomic number 112. Its known isotopes are extremely radioactive, and have only been created in a laboratory. The most stable known isotope, copernicium-285, has a half-life of ap ...
.
His newer technique, called "hot fusion" (also unrelated to
nuclear fusion
Nuclear fusion is a reaction in which two or more atomic nuclei are combined to form one or more different atomic nuclei and subatomic particles (neutrons or protons). The difference in mass between the reactants and products is manifest ...
as an energy process), helped to discover elements 113 to 118, completing the
seventh row of the
periodic table
The periodic table, also known as the periodic table of the (chemical) elements, is a rows and columns arrangement of the chemical elements. It is widely used in chemistry, physics, and other sciences, and is generally seen as an icon of ...
.
The technique involved bombarding
calcium
Calcium is a chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. As an alkaline earth metal, calcium is a reactive metal that forms a dark oxide-nitride layer when exposed to air. Its physical and chemical properties are most similar t ...
into targets containing heavier radioactive elements that are rich in neutrons at a
cyclotron
A cyclotron is a type of particle accelerator invented by Ernest O. Lawrence in 1929–1930 at the University of California, Berkeley, and patented in 1932. Lawrence, Ernest O. ''Method and apparatus for the acceleration of ions'', filed: J ...
. The elements discovered using this method are
nihonium
Nihonium is a synthetic chemical element with the symbol Nh and atomic number 113. It is extremely radioactive; its most stable known isotope, nihonium-286, has a half-life of about 10 seconds. In the periodic table, nihonium is a transact ...
(2003; also discovered by
RIKEN in Japan using cold fusion),
flerovium
Flerovium is a superheavy chemical element with symbol Fl and atomic number 114. It is an extremely radioactive synthetic element. It is named after the Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in ...
(1999),
moscovium (2003),
livermorium
Livermorium is a synthetic element, synthetic chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Lv and has an atomic number of 116. It is an extremely radioactivity, radioactive element that has only been created in a laboratory setting and has ...
(2000),
tennessine
Tennessine is a synthetic chemical element with the symbol Ts and atomic number 117. It is the second-heaviest known element and the penultimate element of the 7th period of the periodic table.
The discovery of tennessine was officially anno ...
(2009), and
oganesson (2002).
Recognition
American chemist
Sherry Yennello
Sherry J. Yennello is an American nuclear chemist and an Elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She is a Regents Professor and the holder of the Cyclotron Institute Bright Chair in Nuclear Science, who currently ...
has called him the "grandfather of superheavy elements".
Oganessian is the author of three discoveries, a monograph, 11 inventions, and more than 300 scientific papers.
Oganesson
In early 2016, science writers and bloggers speculated that one of the superheavy elements would be named oganessium or oganesson. The
International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry
The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC ) is an international federation of National Adhering Organizations working for the advancement of the chemical sciences, especially by developing nomenclature and terminology. It is ...
(IUPAC) announced in November 2016 that element 118 would be named
oganesson to honor Oganessian. It was first observed in 2002 at JINR, by a joint team of Russian and American scientists. Headed by Oganessian, the team included American scientists of the
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is a federal research facility in Livermore, California, United States. The lab was originally established as the University of California Radiation Laboratory, Livermore Branch in 1952 in response ...
, California.
Prior to this announcement, a dozen elements had been named after people, but of those, only
seaborgium
Seaborgium is a Synthetic element, synthetic chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Sg and atomic number 106. It is named after the American nuclear chemist Glenn T. Seaborg. As a synthetic element, it can be created in a laboratory ...
was likewise named while its namesake (
Glenn T. Seaborg) was alive.
As Seaborg died in 1999, Oganessian is the only currently living namesake of an element.
Honors and awards
In 1990, he was elected Corresponding Member of the Soviet Academy of Sciences and in 2003 a Full Member (Academician) of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Oganessian holds
honorary degree
An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad ho ...
s from
Goethe University Frankfurt
Goethe University (german: link=no, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main) is a university located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It was founded in 1914 as a citizens' university, which means it was founded and funded by the wealt ...
(2002),
University of Messina
The University of Messina ( it, Università degli Studi di Messina; Latin: ''Studiorum Universitas Messanae''), known colloquially as UniME, is a state university located in Messina, Sicily, Italy. Founded in 1548 by Pope Paul III, it was the world ...
(2009), and
Yerevan State University
Yerevan State University (YSU; hy, Երևանի Պետական Համալսարան, ԵՊՀ, ''Yerevani Petakan Hamalsaran''), also simply University of Yerevan, is the oldest continuously operating public university in Armenia. Founded in 1919 ...
.
In 2019, he was elected as an Honorary Fellow of
St Catharine's College, Cambridge
St Catharine's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1473 as Katharine Hall, it adopted its current name in 1860. The college is nicknamed "Catz". The college is located in the historic city-centre of Cam ...
.
State awards
*
USSR State Prize
The USSR State Prize (russian: links=no, Государственная премия СССР, Gosudarstvennaya premiya SSSR) was the Soviet Union's state honor. It was established on 9 September 1966. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, t ...
(1975)
*
Order "For Merit to the Fatherland"
The Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" (russian: Орден «За заслуги перед Отечеством», ''Orden "Za zaslugi pered Otechestvom"'') is a state decoration of the Russian Federation. It was instituted on 2 March 1994 by ...
3rd class (2003)
*
Russian Federation National Award (2010)
*
Order of Honor of the Republic of Armenia (2016)
*
Order of St. Mesrop Mashtots (Armenia, 2019)
Professional awards
*
Kurchatov Medal (1989)
*Lise Meitner Prize of the
European Physical Society
The European Physical Society (EPS) is a non-profit organisation whose purpose is to promote physics and physicists in Europe through methods such as physics outreach. Formally established in 1968, its membership includes the national physical so ...
(2000)
*
Lomonosov Gold Medal
The Lomonosov Gold Medal (russian: Большая золотая медаль имени М. В. Ломоносова ''Bol'shaya zolotaya medal' imeni M. V. Lomonosova''), named after Russian scientist and polymath Mikhail Lomonosov, is awarded ...
(2018) "for fundamental research in the fields of interaction of complex nuclei and experimental evidence of existence of an 'island of stability' for superheavy elements"
*
Demidov Prize (2019)
*UNESCO-Russia Mendeleev International Prize in the Basic Sciences (2021)
Recognition in Armenia
Oganessian was granted Armenian citizenship in July 2018 by Prime Minister
Nikol Pashinyan
Nikol Vovayi Pashinyan ( hy, Նիկոլ Վովայի Փաշինյան, ; born 1 June 1975) is an Armenian politician serving as the prime minister of Armenia since 8 May 2018.
A journalist by profession, Pashinyan founded his own newspaper in 1 ...
. Oganessian is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Foundation for Armenian Science and Technology (FAST). He is also the chairman of the international scientific board of the
Alikhanian National Science Laboratory (Yerevan Physics Institute). In 2017
HayPost issued a postage stamp dedicated to Oganessian. In 2022 the
Central Bank of Armenia issued a silver
commemorative coin
Commemorative coins are coins issued to commemorate some particular event or issue with a distinct design with reference to the occasion on which they were issued. Many coins of this category serve as collectors items only, although some countries ...
dedicated to Oganessian and the element oganesson (Og). In April 2022 he was named honorary professor of
Yerevan State University
Yerevan State University (YSU; hy, Երևանի Պետական Համալսարան, ԵՊՀ, ''Yerevani Petakan Hamalsaran''), also simply University of Yerevan, is the oldest continuously operating public university in Armenia. Founded in 1919 ...
.
Selected publications
*
Notes
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oganessian, Yuri
1933 births
Corresponding Members of the USSR Academy of Sciences
Full Members of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Living people
Scientists from Rostov-on-Don
Russian people of Armenian descent
Armenian scientists
Russian nuclear physicists
Armenian nuclear physicists
Soviet nuclear physicists
20th-century Russian physicists
21st-century Russian physicists
Moscow Engineering Physics Institute alumni
Discoverers of chemical elements
Recipients of the Lomonosov Gold Medal
Fellows of the American Physical Society