Sergey Alekseevich
Lebedev
1902-1974
Sergey Alekseevich Lebedev – the Director of the Institute of Precision Mechanics and Computer Engineering of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Moscow. He was born on November 2, 1902 in the city of Nizhny Novgorod, the Nizhny Novgorod region in a family of teachers. In 1921, he entered Moscow Higher Technical School at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, from which he graduated in 1928 with a degree in electrical engineering. At the same time, he started working as a teacher at Bauman Moscow State Technical University and as a junior researcher at All-Union Electrotechnical Institute (VEI). Continuing to work on the problem of sustainability, S.A. Lebedev organized a group in the VEI, which then took shape in the laboratory of electrical networks. Gradually, the subject of the laboratory was expanding, and the problems of automatic regulation began to fall into the circle of its interests. This led to the creation of the automation department on the basis of this laboratory in 1936, the management of which was entrusted to S.A. Lebedev. In 1941, he was awarded the degree of the Doctor of Technical Sciences. During the war, he continued research and developed a torpedo homing on emitting or reflecting radiation targets, as well as an automatic homing system for an aircraft torpedo and a tank gun stabilization system when aiming. The creation of such systems required a huge amount of calculations. As you know, the principles of computer engineering and electronic accounting were developed abroad by von Neumann. Lebedev’s scientific feat lies in the fact that in the conditions of information isolation of those years, he came to the same conclusions as von Neumann, but six months earlier. At the end of 1947, a mock-up of a digital electronic counting machine (MESM) began to be created at the Institute, the trial launch of which took place on November 6, 1950. MESM was commissioned by the commission in 1951, and in 1952 it already solved important scientific and technical problems in the field of thermonuclear processes, space flights, rocket technology, long-range transmission lines. The development of BESM was already carried out in Moscow, in the laboratory of the Institute of Precision Mechanics and Computer Engineering of the USSR Academy of Sciences, headed by S.A. Lebedev. The first launch of the BESM took place in the fall of 1952, and it passed state tests in 1953. After the creation of the Computing Centre of the USSR Academy of Sciences in February 1955, ITM and VT were tasked with preparing BESM for serial production. Calculations were carried out on BESM-2 during the launches of artificial Earth satellites and the first spaceships with a man on board. BESM was recognized as the fastest car in Europe. Its speed turned out to be a record – 8000 operations per second. After the triumphant victory of BESM, under the leadership of Lebedev, work immediately began on the next version of the computer, with improved characteristics: increased speed, more memory, increased stable operation time. The production of BESM computers has created real conditions for the emergence of several domestic schools for the development of software for these computers, which are original in their architecture. On the initiative of S.A. Lebedev in 1955, the Diana-1 and Diana-2 special vehicles were developed to guide fighters to aerial targets. The continuation of these works led to the creation of a whole series of computers designed to solve missile defence problems. In 1975, during the joint flight of the Soyuz and Apollo spacecraft, the AS-6 complex, processing information, calculated data on the flight path in 1 minute, while the American side had such a calculation taking half an hour. S.A. Lebedev managed to form a domestic school of research and development, which for many years held a leading position in the world in a number of areas. He was awarded 4 Orders of Lenin, the Order of the October Revolution, 2 Orders of the Red Banner of Labor, medals. He was the Laureate of the Lenin, Stalin and State Prizes of the USSR. In 1996, the International Computer Society IEEE Computer Society awarded S.A. Lebedev its highest award – the medal “Computer Pioneer Award” for outstanding innovative work in the field of computer engineering. In Moscow, a memorial plaque is installed on the house where he lived.
Address: Moscow, Novopeschanaya str., 21, bldg. 1
