Mikhail Dmitrievich
Millionshchikov
1913-1973
Mikhail Dmitrievich Millionshchikov was a Soviet scientist in the field of aerohydrodynamics, applied physics and nuclear energy, a statesman and public figure, organizer of science, Deputy Director of the I.V. Kurchatov Institute of Atomic Energy for Scientific Work, Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR, Academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Vice-President of the USSR Academy of Sciences, the Hero of Socialist Labor. He graduated from the oilfield Faculty of Grozny Oil Institute with a degree in drilling engineer in 1932. Since 1934 he worked in Moscow as an assistant, senior lecturer, associate professor of the Department of Aircraft Aerodynamics, Acting Dean of the Aircraft and Helicopter Building Faculty of Moscow Aviation Institute (1934-1943). At the same time, since 1939, he worked as a senior researcher at the high-speed laboratories of Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute named after Professor N.E. Zhukovsky (until 1951). M.D. Millionshchikov was widely known for his research carried out at MAI under the scientific supervision of Academician A.N. Kolmogorov. In the late 1930s he published works on one of the most important branches of mechanics, which is difficult to describe mathematically, the theory of turbulence. During the Great Patriotic War, he was evacuated to Kuibyshev and in 1943-1946 worked as an associate professor of the Department of Aeromechanics of Kuibyshev Aviation Institute. During these years, his research on hydrodynamics, the development of the theory of gas injectors, the theory of turbulence and the theory of oil and gas filtration in a porous medium contributed to improving the efficiency of oil exploration and the growth of oil production in the Volga region and Bashkiria (“second Baku”), while solving the problems of introducing new technologies and materials in aircraft, engine building and the production of other products for the needs of the front. From 1949 until the end of his life he worked at the I.V. Institute of Atomic Energy named after Kurchatov: a Head of the sector, Deputy head of the Department of thermal control devices, head of the Department of high-temperature installations, since 1960 – Deputy Director of the Institute for scientific work. At the same time, he taught: Head of the Department of Molecular Physics of the Moscow Institute of Engineering and Physics (in 1949-1960 and in 1967-1973). Also, in 1947-1952 he was a professor at the Department of Aeromechanics of the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology. The main scientific works of M.D. Millionshchikov are devoted to the theory of turbulence, filtration theory, applied gas dynamics, isotope separation, high-temperature reactor engineering, energy conversion methods, as well as science, disarmament and international relations. Scientific supervisor of the work on the creation of the world’s first nuclear reactor-converter “Chamomile” (commissioned in 1964). For the period of the 1960s, M.D. Millionshchikov’s transition to scientific and organizational and public-state work occurred. Since 1963, he was elected a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR. In 1963-1967 he was a Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR of the 6th convocation. He was a Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR 7-8 convocations (from April 11, 1967 to May 27, 1973). He was also elected a deputy of the Moscow City Council of Workers’ Deputies. For outstanding achievements in the field of mechanics, nuclear physics and energy, for fruitful scientific and organizational activities and great achievements in the training of highly qualified scientific personnel, by Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated April 27, 1967, Vice-President of the USSR Academy of Sciences Academician Mikhail Dmitrievich Millionshchikov was awarded the title of the Hero of Socialist Labor with the award of the Order of Lenin and the gold medal “Sickle and a Hammer.” The scientist’s work has received wide international recognition. He was elected a Foreign Honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in Boston (USA, 1968), a foreign academician of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences (1972), a corresponding member of the German Academy of Sciences (1971). He was awarded with prestigious scientific awards: Gold Medal of the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei (Italy), Gold Medal of the Academy of Sciences of Cuba (1972), Gold Medal of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences (1970), Gold Medal named after N. Copernicus of the Polish Academy of Sciences (1973), Grand Medal named after G. Leibniz of the German Academy of Sciences in Berlin, the Gold Medal “For Services to Science and Humanity” of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, the Medal of the Slovenian Academy of Arts and Sciences, the S.I. Vavilov Medal of the All-Union Society “Knowledge”. He lived in the hero city of Moscow.
Address: Moscow, Akademika Kurchatov pl., 1, p. 1
